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Picoides arizonae

Picoides arizonae (*)

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Classis: Aves
Subclassis: Carinatae
Infraclassis: Neornithes
Parvclassis: Neognathae
Ordo: Piciformes
Familia: Picidae
Subfamilia: Picinae
Genus: Picoides
Species: Picoides arizonae
Subspecies: P. a. arizonae - P. a. fraterculus - P. a. websteri

Name

Picoides arizonae (Hargitt, 1886)

References

Ibis - the International Journal of Avian Science, published by the British Ornithologists' Union p.115

Vernacular names
English: Arizona Woodpecker
Français: Pic d'Arizona
Suomi: Sierramadrentikka

The Arizona Woodpecker (Picoides arizonae) is a woodpecker native to southern Arizona and New Mexico and the Sierra Madre Occidental of western Mexico. The species northernmost range in southeastern Arizona, extreme southwestern New Mexico, and northern Sonora is the region of the Madrean sky islands, a region of higher Sonoran Desert mountain ranges.

This species is known in older field guides as a subspecies of Strickland's Woodpecker. The 42nd supplement of the American Ornithologists Union checklist officially split Strickland's Woodpecker into two species: the northern population in the Sierra Madre Occidental region (Arizona, P. arizonae) and the southern population in central Mexico (Strickland's, P. stricklandi).

Description

Arizona Woodpeckers are nearly identical to Strickland's Woodpeckers, growing to be about 7 to 8 inches in length. Their plumage is mainly brown and white in coloration, brown on top with a dark rump with white underparts speckled with brown spots. Arizona Woodpeckers usually have white bars on their wings, and have two white stripes across their face which join with another white bar on their neck. Male Arizona Woodpeckers also have a red patch on the nape of their head which is lacking on females.

The call of the Arizona Woodpecker is a sharp, squeaky keech, and this species also gives a rattle call of descending, grating notes.

References

* BirdLife International (2004). Picoides arizonae. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
* "Picoides arizonae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=685724. Retrieved 27 February 2006.
* Sibley, David Allen. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, ISBN 0-679-45121-8

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Source: Wikipedia, Wikispecies: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License