A practical guide to bird watching in Sonoma County, California
(Unless otherwise indicated, all phone numbers are in the 707 area code)
A common year-round resident in appropriate habitat--which is most of the county excepting the extreme coastal strip and the low, marshy areas along San Pablo Bay, and the most densely forested areas that border Mendocino county in the far north. Usually encountered in fairly open woodland settings or along riparian corridors, but fairly common also in suburbia and in farmland, or even in city parks. Occasionally visits feeders. Usually solitary or in pairs during breeding season. Breeds in much of the county. Often heard before it’s seen, its distinctive call carries long distances (a loud rattle similar to that of the Kingfisher). Because Nuttall’s Woodpecker is confined almost entirely to California; this bird is often on lists of species birders visiting from outside the state hope to see here.
Our only black and white woodpecker with a horizontally striped back and therefore easily separated from the somewhat smaller Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens, about 6.5 inches) and the considerably larger (about 9 inches) Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus), both of which have a plain black back with a single vertical white stripe down the upper part. Otherwise, white underneath but lightly spotted with black on the flanks, belly, and vent. Note that this spotting is highly variable; some birds show very little of it, others more (see photos below). Red on the head of males confined to the back of the head (females lack the red).
The rather similar-looking Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Picoides scalaris) occurs east of the Sierra Nevada mountains and east of the southern California deserts. As far as I can tell, that bird has never been recorded in Sonoma County. It differs from Nuttall’s Woodpecker by having more red on the head, more white on the face, having spotting extending higher up the back, and by having a wash of buff on the front of the face, at the chin, and the upper breast. The ranges, however, overlap little and hundreds of miles to the south of us. Practically speaking a black and white woodpecker in Sonoma County with a horizontally striped back will be Nuttall’s Woodpecker.
Trivia: Named for Thomas Nuttall, an early naturalist. According to Fix and Bezener, Nuttall authored the first field guide to North American birds,.
Further reading:
Bolander and Parmeter, Birds of Sonoma County California, rev. ed., 2000, p. 79
Brinkley, National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America, 2007, p. 283
Burridge, ed., Sonoma County Breeding Bird Atlas, 1995, p. 93
Dunn and Alderfer, eds., National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 5th ed., 2006, p. 288
Dunn and Alderfer, eds., National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 6th ed., 2011, p. 318
Dunne, Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion, 2006, p. 381
Ehrlich, Dobkin, and Wheye, The Birder's Handbook, paperback edition, 1988, p. 356
Fix and Bezener, Birds of Northern California, 2000, p. 232
Floyd, Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 2008, p. 270
Kaufman, Field Guide to Birds of North America, 2000, p. 212
Kaufman, Field Guide to Advanced Birding, 2011, p. 343
Lukas, Bay Area Birds: From Sonoma County to Monterey Bay, 2012, pp. 169-170
Parmeter and Wight, Birds of Sonoma County California, Update (2000-2010), 2012, p. 47
Peterson, Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, 4th ed., 2010, p. 240
Peterson, Western Birds, 3rd ed., 1990, p. 228
Sibley, Field Guide to Birds of Western North America,1st ed., 2003, p. 270
Stokes, Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 1st ed., 2010, p. 443
Vuilleumier, American Museum of Natural History, Birds of North America: Western Region, 2011, p. 446
Voice: Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds--Nuttall’s Woodpecker
© Colin Talcroft, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Unless noted, all photos by the author. If you would like to use one of my images, please ask for permission for non-commercial use with proper credit or commercial use with proper compensation.
Nuttall’s Woodpecker (female), Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, December 2, 2012
Nuttall’s Woodpecker (male), Hewitt St., Santa Rosa, January 30, 2013
Nuttall’s Woodpecker (female), Arroyo Sierra Drive, Santa Rosa, February 8, 2013
This bird has considerably more spotting on the flanks than the bird above it.
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Picoides nuttallii
1990-2013 Sonoma County data. Graph provided by eBird (www.ebird.org), generated July 29, 2013
EBird reported occurrence in Sonoma County
For comparison: Downy Woodpecker (male), Spring Lake, Santa Rosa, November 12, 2013
Note single vertical stripe of white down the back
