Gila Woodpecker
The Gila Woodpecker is the most common. It is easily found -- and heard -- every day of the year. It is only found in Arizona, and only in the Sonoran Desert. It's main attraction is the Saguaro. All the holes you find in a Saguaro were made by the Gila Woodpecker. (Unless you live by a golf course, in which case many are made by the little white ball). The Gila Woodpecker "drills" into the Saguaro about four or five inches and then down into the Saguaro about 10 inches. The Saguaro then secretes a substance to line this cavity so that it won't dry out and die. This substance hardens and when the Saguaro eventually dies (of old age or lightning) the "boot" that was created pops out. The Gila Woodpecker is a noisy bird. Sometimes sharpening his bill on the side of the house. He likes to drink from the Hummingbird feeders and will try to get into the Cardinal feeder as well. If you walk by, he flies to the nearest Saguaro and starts squawking because you have disturb it.
Gilded Flicker
The Gilded Flicker is larger and much heavier than the Gila Woodpecker. But, like the Gila Woodpecker is only found in the Sonoran Desert. The male, in the photo above, is easily distinguished by his red malar. In this photo, he is on a branch of a Century Plant. We see him much less frequently, only four or five times a year. We'll see both the male and female.
Ladder Backed Woodpecker
Still even less frequent is the Ladder Backed Woodpecker. We see him only a couple times a year. He's probably here more often when we don't see him, but still not common. When we do see him he is always with his mate. Again the male is easy to identify because of its red crown. The Ladder Backed Woodpecker has a wider range, pretty much throughout the Southwest.
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