woodpeckers: Part VII

Another Woodpecker we see occasionally here at The Azure Gate is the Ladderback Woodpecker. When they come around, they usually come in pairs. The Ladderback is fairly common in the Southwest Sonoran or Scrub Desert environments. Its range extends north to the extreme southern tip of Nevada as well as southwestern corner of Colorado. Its southern limit is Mexico and Central America as far as Nicaragua. Like most other woodpeckers in the southwest the Ladderback bores holes into tree trunks and saguaro cacti both to hunt for insects and to create a nest. And, like the other Arizona woodpeckers feeds on fruit produced by cacti. Below are photos of both the male (first) and female (second) taken here at The Azure Gate:

Male Ladderback Woodpecker in African Sumac

Female Ladderback Woodpecker in Mesquite Tree