Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
This species has a large range and population size. It is protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Act.
US Migratory Bird Act: no special status
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
They have been known to destroy crops of cherries and small fruit. (Bent 1964)
Lewis's Woodpecker eats mostly acorns and wild berries of varying varieties. They enjoy grasshoppers. They have been known to eat them exclusively until the grasshoppers were gone. They also eat many other insects. A set of these birds were watched for about forty-five minutes darting from their perches to catch insects and never missed catching one and in that time they ate thirty-five insects. Because they eat insects, they are beneficial to farmers. They prefer dead trees, so they don't harm living ones. (Bent 1964)
The Lewis's Woodpecker is known to have a hoarding instinct. About one-third of its diet consists of acorns, which it stores in cracks and bark furrows. In addition to acorns, the Lewis's Woodpecker eats insects of different kinds, including ants, crickets, grasshoppers, etc. This bird has been seen catching may flies and hoarding them by putting them in crevices of pine trees, mostly in the trees where they nested. It has been noted that they are excellent flycatchers and have extremely fine vision, catching insects which were about 100 feet from where the bird was perched. It also eats wild berries of varying varieties, in addition to pine nuts, juniper berries, cherries, and apricots. (Bent 1964, Eckstrom 1901)
Melanerpes lewis is found in California, north to western Washington to northwestern Montana and the mountains of Colorado. They have been seen as far south as the southern Counties of California, although they are uncommon there. They are most common in the southeastern San Joaquin County,Ca., north to Southern Oregon, and along the coastal ranges from northern Tehoma County to Southern San Luis Oispo County, Ca. There have also been sightings in Utah, British Columbia, Texas, and Mexico.(Bent 1964, Winkler et al.1995)
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )
Lewis's Woodpeckers prefer logged or burned out areas. They prefer old growth woodlands rather than dense forest. In Montana they nest in the transition zone between 2,000 and 3,100 feet elevation. In winter they choose oak woodland or commerical orchards such as almond and walnut and pecan trees. (Bent 1964, Winkler et al. 1995)
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Adult Lewis's Woodpeckers have a medium sized head, short neck, and large body. The bill and feet are dusky blue-gray. The back of this species is black, glossed with green, and the belly is rose red. There is a deep red band which runs across the forehead and throat, extending behind and below the eye. The throat and wings are black with a band of dull white over the hind neck extending forward and around the breast. The adult female resembles the male, although she is slightly duller in color with less red on the front of the head.
Like most woodpeckers, the Lewis's Woodpecker has four toes, the first of which is small, the fourth is longer than the third, and the second and third are together at the base. They have large claws which are curved and laterally grooved.
The wings are long spanning to 21 inches. The tail is of medium length and very strong. It has ten feathers that are pointed and stiff. The outside feathers are shorter than the center ones.
(Bent 1964, Small 1994)
Average mass: 115 g.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Lewis's Woodpeckers nest in excavated cavities which they may return to for many years. A female Lewis's Woodpecker can lay from five to nine egs in a season, though six to seven eggs are most common. The eggs vary in shape and size, from ovate to rounded. Eggs are white in color. Both sexes incubate the eggs which lasts for about two weeks. The hatchlings leave the nest about three to five weeks after leaving the shell. The infants have huge appetites being very fond of grasshoppers and wild strawberries. When the fledglings leave, each parent takes part of the brood. Both groups stay close to the nesting area for up to ten days. This woodpecker doesn't show as much parental affection as others of the woodpecker family. It doesn't show much emotion toward its young. It will sit close by and watch quietly while its eggs are taken by a predator.
They like to nest in old trees which are either burned or dead. They prefer burned ones which are blackened. They also enjoy large trees which have been broken off high up at about 175 feet. (Bent 1964, Winkler et al. 1995)
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Lewis's woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis) is a large North American species of woodpecker which ornithologist Alexander Wilson named after Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America as part of the Louisiana Purchase and first described this species of bird.
Lewis's woodpecker was described and illustrated in 1811 by the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson in his American Ornithology; or, the Natural History of the Birds of the United States. Wilson based his description on some bird skins that had been collected on an expedition across the western portion of the United States led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1803–1806. Wilson coined the English name "Lewis's woodpecker" and the binomial name Picus torquatus.[2] Unfortunately, the specific epithet was preoccupied by the ringed woodpecker, Celeus torquatus (Boddaert, 1783) and so in 1849 the English zoologist George Robert Gray coined a new name Picus lewis.[3] The type locality is Montana.[4] Lewis's woodpecker is now placed in the genus Melanerpes that was erected by the English ornithologist William John Swainson in 1832.[5][6] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[6]
One of the largest species of American woodpeckers, Lewis's woodpecker can measure up to 10–11 inches (25–28 cm) in length. It is mainly reddish-breasted, blackish-green in color with a black rump. It has a gray collar and upper breast, with a pinkish belly, and a red face. The wings are much broader than those of other woodpeckers, and it flies at a much more sluggish pace with slow, but even flaps similar to those of a crow. Its calls have a harsh sound relative to other woodpeckers', and it may use a repertoire of several different phrases.[7] They are one of the three largest Melanerpes woodpeckers, being similar in size to the white woodpecker and the Jamaican woodpecker.[8]
Measurements:[9]
Lewis's woodpecker is locally common, dwelling mostly in open pine woodlands, and other areas with scattered trees and snags. Unlike other American woodpeckers, it enjoys sitting in the open as opposed to sitting in heavy tree cover. It ranges mostly in the western to central United States, but can winter as far south as the US border with Mexico and summer as far north as Canada. It has been seen in five Midwestern states: South Dakota, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Lewis's woodpecker engages in some rather un-woodpecker-like behavior in its gregarious feeding habits. Although it does forage for insects by boring into trees with its chisel-like bill, the bird also catches insects in the air during flight (typical insect hawking), a habit that only a few other woodpeckers, such as the acorn woodpecker, the red-headed woodpecker and the northern flicker, engage in. Lewis's woodpecker also feeds on berries and nuts, and will even shell and store nuts in cracks and holes in wood to store until winter. It will also feed at flat, open bird feeders where it might act aggressively toward other birds.
Lewis's woodpecker nests in a cavity excavated from a dead tree branch. The nest is constructed mainly by the male. The female will lay between 5 and 9 eggs, which are plain white in coloration. Both sexes incubate—the female during the day and the male at night. Incubation lasts approximately 12 days, after which the young will hatch. The young leave the nest four to five weeks after hatching.
Lewis's woodpecker (Melanerpes lewis) is a large North American species of woodpecker which ornithologist Alexander Wilson named after Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America as part of the Louisiana Purchase and first described this species of bird.
