Ladder-Backed Woodpecker

Dryobates scalaris

The Ladder-Backed Woodpecker is resident from the American Southwest from the Mojave Desert in California, east across southern Arizona and New Mexico, and into western Texas. Found year-round wherever they live, these birds are common from the southeast USA and southward over much of Mexico. Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers closely associate with cactus for both foraging and nesting.

Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers are closely related to Nuttall’s Woodpeckers, but there are differences (see <this link> for details). The ranges for these birds seldom overlap, though when working with the San Diego Natural History team near Campo in east San Diego County, we found both birds in the valley where we were surveying the fauna.

Ladder-Backed Woodpecker - Phasianus colchicus — **Ladder-Backed Woodpecker**
*(Dryobates scalaris)*

**Description:**
A female bird I met near the Colorado River at Pintail Cove, part of the Havasu NWR in Arizona east of Needles, California USA 2015-05-02.
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**Date Taken:** 2015:05:02 8:10

**Location:**

Pintail Landing
Mohave Valley, Arizona
United States
462.62 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/9.0, 1/800

**File Name:** D3X8647-LadderBackedWoodpecker

© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com

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Pin It — **Ladder-Backed Woodpecker**
*(Dryobates scalaris)*

**Description:**
A female bird I met near the Colorado River at Pintail Cove, part of the Havasu NWR in Arizona east of Needles, California USA 2015-05-02.
Read More

**Date Taken:** 2015:05:02 8:10

**Location:**

Pintail Landing
Mohave Valley, Arizona
United States
462.62 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/9.0, 1/800

**File Name:** D3X8647-LadderBackedWoodpecker

© 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com

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Ladder-Backed Woodpecker - Himantopus mexicanus — **Ladder-Backed Woodpecker**
*(Dryobates scalaris)*

**Description:**
Camped with the Science Team from the San Diego Natural History Museum and gathering data as a followup study from previous studies of about 80 years prior. Mojave National Preserve in San Bernardino County, California.
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**Date Taken:** 2016:11:10 6:42

**Location:**

Cima Camp
Cima, California
United States
4928.06 ft above sea level

**Camera Information:**
NIKON D5, 800 mm, f/11.0, 1/5000

**File Name:** LadderBackedWoodpecker_D5X6919

© 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com

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