coraciiformes and piciformes coraciiformes: alcedinidae: kingfishers field marks: small to...
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Coraciiformes and Piciformes
Coraciiformes: Alcedinidae: KingfishersField Marks:• Small to medium-sized• Short necks and tails• Small feet• Large heads with long, strong bills• Most boldly colored with blues or greens, and orange
or red• Weak feet with syndactyl toes
Sex: Dimorphic
Habitat: Forests, scrub, and aquatic habitats
Life History:• Eat a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate prey• Many specialize in catching fish by plunge-diving• Defend territories year-round• Monogamous for life• Some species migrate• Among oldest on record: 14 yrs 10 mos
Distribution:• 95 species in 17 genera worldwide, except polar
regions• 3 species in 2 genera in North America
Order:Coraciiformes
Alcedinidae
Piciformes: Picidae: WoodpeckersField Marks:• Medium-sized birds with zygodactyl feet• Chisel-shaped bill• Vertical posture• Rounded wings• Characteristic undulating flight pattern
Sex: Dimorphic
Habitat: Primarily wooded areas
Life History:• Eat mainly insects, but also fruit, seeds, and sap• Typically use bill to drill into wood to find food• Most territorial and monogamous• Some are migratory• Among oldest on record: 16 yrs
Distribution:• 217 species in 28 genera worldwide• 22 species in 5 genera breed in North America (plus
Ivory-billed!)
Order:Piciformes
Picidae
Order: CoraciiformesFamily: Alcedinidae
Field Marks: • Stocky, with large head• Uniformly blue-gray upperparts, and primarily white
underparts• Large, ragged, double-pointed crest• Nearly complete white collar• Blue-gray breast band
Sex:• Males have a single blue-gray breast band• Females have rufous sides and a rufous lower breast
band, in addition to the blue-gray breast band
Habitat: Streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries
Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA
Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon
©Photo by Ann Cook
Female
Long, uneven rattle, or a musical, rapid trill:
tirrr
Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon
©Photo by Ann Cook
Female
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Plumage black overall, with white head and wing
patch
Sex: Males have red cap
Habitat: Coniferous forests
Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• Pine seeds are a critical food source
White-headed Woodpecker Picoides albolarvatus
©Photos by Bob Steele
Male
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Large and “crow-sized”• Plumage blackish overall• Red crest• White line from bill across cheek and down neck• White patch on upperwing, and white wing lining
Sex:• Males have red crest extending forward to bill, and red
malar stripe• Females crest does not reach bill, and no malar stripe
Habitat: • Old, primarily coniferous forests, with large, dead
trees
Life History:• Occurs year-round in northern CA
Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
©Photo by www.arttoday.com
Female
Male
Male
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Black upperparts with white wing and rump patches• Red crown with white forehead and throat
Sex:• Males have a full red crown that meets the white
forehead• Females have a partial red crown, with a black patch
separating it from the white forehead
Habitat: Oak and riparian woodlands
Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• Store acorns in communal granaries and
cooperatively raise young
Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus
Male
©Photos by Bob Steele
Female
Male
Raucous laughing; a nasal wheka wheka…. or RACK-up RACK-up
Also, nasal, trilled ddddrridrr or ddrreeerr
Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus
Male
©Photos by Bob Steele
Female
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Upperparts grayish-brown with irregular dark brown
bars• Buffy underparts with large black spots• Crescent-shaped black breast patch• White rump• Underside of wing and tail reddish (in western
subspecies)
Sex:• Females have plain gray face• Males have gray face with red malar stripe
Habitat: • Riparian and oak woodlands, coniferous forests
Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA
Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
Male
©Photos by Peter LaTourrette
Female
High piercing, clear Keer
Soft, lilting:wik-a-wik-a-wik-a-…….
Long, strong, low-pitched series:kwikwikwik….
Northern Flicker Colaptes auratus
Male
©Photos by Peter LaTourrette
Female
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Red head, nape, and breast• White line from bill toward nape• Black back with white spots• Large white wing patch• Yellow abdomen
Sex: Monomorphic
Habitat: Coniferous forests and riparian woodland
Life History:• Occurs year-round in northern CA, but winters
throughout• Drill sap wells through the bark of trees and feed on
the sap
Red-breasted Sapsucker Sphyrapicus ruber
©Photo by Peter LaTourrette
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Greenish-black upperparts with wide gray collar and
upper breast• Dark red face, and pinkish lower breast and abdomen
Sex: Monomorphic
Habitat: Riparian and oak woodland
Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA
Lewis’s Woodpecker Melanerpes lewis
©Photo by Steve Messick
©Photo by Peter LaTourrette
©Photos by Bob Steele
Female
Male
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Small, with primarily black upperparts primarily black• White head stripes, spots on wings, and along center
of back• Underparts whitish• Short, stubby bill is shorter than head
Sex: Male has red nape patch
Habitat: Riparian woodland
Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• The smallest North American woodpecker• Name refers to the “downy” strip of white feathers
down the back
Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens
©Photos by Bob Steele
Female
Male
Slow rattle, beginning slow and squeaky, ending lower, faster
varies from kikikikiki…
to slow twi twi twi…
Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Small, with primarily black upperparts primarily black• White head stripes, spots on wings, and along center
of back• Underparts whitish• Larger, heavier bill is almost same length as head
Sex: Male has red nape patch
Habitat: Coniferous forests
Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• Name refers to long, filamentous white feathers down
the back
Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus
Female
Male
©Photos by Peter LaTourrette
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Small, with black and white striped upperparts• Underparts whitish with spots and streaks on flanks
and undertail• Broad black eye line and malar stripes that join at the
back• Supercilium and auricular region whitish• Outer rectrices barred black
Sex:• Male has red crown that may extend forward of the
eye
Habitat: Desert scrub and desert riparian woodland
Life History:• Occurs year-round in southeastern CA
Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris
©Photos by Bob Steele
Female
Male
Order: PiciformesFamily: Picidae
Field Marks: • Small, with black and white striped upperparts• Upper back entirely black (no striping)• Underparts whitish with spots and streaks on flanks
and undertail• Broad black eye line and malar stripes that join at the
back• Narrow whitish supercilium and auricular region• Outer rectrices spotted black
Sex:• Male has red crown that does not extend past the eye
Habitat: Oak and riparian woodlands
Life History:• Occurs year-round in CA• Range almost entirely within CA
Nuttall’s Woodpecker Picoides nuttallii
©Photos by Bob Steele
Female
Male
Sharp, rising, two- or three-note pitik
Level and steady rattle call:pitikikik…
Nuttall’s Woodpecker Picoides nuttallii
©Photos by Bob Steele
Female
Male