Day 253: American Three-toed Woodpecker

During most of our Colorado trip, Jared and I were on the hunt for a American Three-toed Woodpecker. We had heard of several good locations to spot this species, but did not seem to have any luck. This woodpecker tends to be quiet, and can be difficult to locate.

Adults are black on the head, wings and rump, and white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. Adult males have a yellow cap, which is what we were on the lookout for. We had no luck for several days, though we did see many other types of woodpeckers. By the end of our trip, we sadly gave up our search.

Once back in Maryland, we soon started sorting through our photos. One evening, Jared yelled for me to come look at his computer, where he had zoomed in on a picture I had taken of two birds we thought were Hairy Woodpeckers. When we originally saw the birds, we were on a very busy trail and did not have much time to look at them before moving on. After a closer inspection, however, Jared realized that we had actually seen two American Three-toed Woodpeckers! Can you see the bit of yellow on the male's head?