Three-Toed Woodpecker - Sierra Club BC
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Three-Toed Woodpecker

CAN BE FOUND IN:

Three-Toed Woodpecker

Picoides dorsalis 

Appearance

Like most other woodpeckers, three-toed woodpeckers are white and black. Unlike most woodpeckers, the males of this group have a bright yellow stripe on the top of their heads. 

Range & Habitat

They are mostly found in old-growth forests where dead standing trees, called ‘snags’, are found. In Canada, they are found from the northern reaches of B.C. and far into the U.S. 

Reciprocal relationships

True to their name, the woodpeckers peck at wood to get to the delicious insects that live under the bark of various trees. These birds are found frequently in bark beetle outbreaks. The ability of woodpeckers to take out bark beetles is critically important for tree health. If these insect populations go uncontrolled, they can kill swaths of forests. It is truly a gift to have these birds in our forests! If you are trying to look for them, they have two common calls. One is a short call that sounds like ‘pert’, and the second sounds like a drum roll that slowly gets faster. 

Woodpeckers make their homes in dead standing trees called ‘snags’.  In the spring, they lay four to five white eggs. After two weeks, the small chicks are born. Since these woodpeckers need snags to survive, their main threats are related to human disturbances in old-growth forests (logging and urban development). 

status

COSEWIC: Not Reported 
CDC: Yellow 

more information

If you belong to a First Nation with a story or piece of information not represented here and you would like to share more about this species, please email us at education@sierraclub.bc.ca.   

photo credit

Canva

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