Lewis's Woodpecker
Melanerpes lewis
Unlike most woodpeckers, this species rarely bores into wood for food, instead catching insects mid-air like a swallow or flycatcher.
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes lewis
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Piciformes › Picidae › Melanerpes
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Open ponderosa pine forests, riparian woodlands, and recently burned forests with standing dead trees.
- Diet
- Insects such as ants and beetles, berries, and mast like acorns or hawthorn fruit.
- Range
- Western United States, Southern British Columbia, Northern Mexico
- Size
- Length: 10-11 in; Wingspan: 20-21 in
- Lifespan
- Approximately 10 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Loss of standing dead trees (snags) due to logging and fire suppression; competition with invasive European Starlings for nest holes.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and observant. Keep a distance of at least 30 feet to observe their unique 'flycatching' behavior. Do not disturb nesting snags or dead trees where they may be caching winter food.
The Lewis's woodpecker ( Melanerpes lewis ) is a large North American species of woodpecker which ornithologist Alexander Wilson named after Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Photo: no rights reserved, CC0, via iNaturalist
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