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Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) This male and female were interacting in a tall tree in Manuel Antonio (Costa Rica). They seemed to talk to each other incessantly the whole time I observed them. They're a noble-looking woodpecker, with their striking red crest and white bill, much like the nearly extinct Ivory Bill (Campephilus principalis).
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This is the sound of Pale-billed Woodpeckers (Campephilus guatemalensis) excavating a nest in Carara (Costa Rica), 11/98.
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Here is an example of the call of a Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), recorded at La Selva (Costa Rica), 6/19/99.
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This is the characteristic (and diagnostic) "double drum" of the Pale-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis), usually done every 30 seconds or so. This bird was signalling in the river bottom at El Gavilan, near Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui (Costa Rica), 6/20/99.
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A pair of Northern (Red Shafted) Flickers (Colaptes auratus) "dance" with each other in a dead hackberry tree between Tavasci Marsh [Arizona] and Peck's Lake [Arizona]. They were joined by an adolescent later. The male Flicker gives us the loud call, and his wife purrs and coos between calls.
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This Flicker was being chased by a male Merlin which was visiting our area on October 11th, 1997. The Merlin was just inches behind the twisting and turning Flicker, but the Flicker prevailed. The Merlin tried a few more times over a 15 minute period to get a Flicker, but never succeeded. Recorded at Tavasci Marsh [Arizona] 10/10/97.
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In the Spring, the male Flickers are heard calling these long, drawn-out "whinnies" from the tops of trees. This was recorded 4/16/98 at Tavasci Marsh [Arizona]. 03
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Here's an example of the male's drumming and whinny - this one in Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona 4/10/99.
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A Lineated Woodpecker (Dryocopus lineatus) drums just above his nest about 10 meters up a dead tree, right at the top of the tree, at El Pizote, near Puerto Viejo de Talamanca (Costa Rica), 6/21/99.
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The largest woodpecker in North America is the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), if you accept that all Ivory Bills have gone to that great hardwood forest in the sky. This pair were recorded near Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in September, 1997. The drumming is on a dead Douglas Fir and was not associated with feeding.
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Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes formicivorus) inhabit Ponderosa Pine/Oak forest in the Western US. They eat many insects and nuts, but show a particular fondness for ants (the name means ant-eater) and acorns. This sample is of a pair talking to one another while foraging around a tall Pine in Big Sur State Park, California.
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Hoffmann's Woodpecker (Melanerpes hoffmannii)-This recording was made at a marsh 10 miles north of Quepos, on the Pacific coast (Costa Rica), while the pair was tending a nest in a dead tree.
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Here is an example of a Hoffmann's Woodpecker (Melanerpes haoffannii) protracted call. This is a female calling from a bare tree behind the Cabinas el Bosque, 6/16/99, Monteverde (Costa Rica). She called like this for several minutes, sitting in one spot near a Brown Jay in the same tree.
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The Black-cheeked Woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani) is one of the most widespread and common woodpeckers in Costa Rica. Compare this woodpecker's call to that of our to our related Gila Woodpecker. Both are from the Melanerpes genus.
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Here is another "churring" call of the Black-cheeked Woodpecker (Melanerpes pucherani) in Costa Rica.
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The Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) is the common local woodpecker in Arizona. They hang out in the Cottonwood trees all along the Verde River, and this is their most common call.
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In the Spring the Gila Woodpeckers "whinny" as do many woodpeckers.
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This Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris) is pecking around a large Willow tree at Peck's Lake [Arizona]. I later saw him in a bush of Winterfat, low to the ground, and flushed him unexpectedly like a quail.
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If you're a male Ladderback and you want to impress your intended in the Spring, you'll want to show her just how fast you can hammer. This males displays for a female sitting just above him in a willow tree at Tavasci Marsh [Arizona], 3/20/98.
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In the Spring both the male and female Ladder-backs use this squeaky introduction to their normal whinny. Sometimes the female uses just the squeaks as a kind of "purr" without the whinny call following.
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Hairy Woodpeckers (Picoides villosus) PEEK a lot like the Ladderbacks, just a bit more insistently. This one was atop Mingus Mountain, 2/22/99.
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Red-naped Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) breed in the Ponderosas of Northern Arizona. This male was recorded during breeding season near the top of Oak Creek Canyon, 4/10/99.
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A male Red-Naped Sapsucker pecking away at a Salt Cedar at the edge of Peck's Lake [Arizona]. He worked the tree for 20 minutes or so while I was recording Coots. Many years ago, he was known as Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, now this western bird has earned his own species designation.
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Smoky-brown Woodpecker (Veniliornis fumigatus) - a distant recording made in the park at Monteverde (Costa Rica).