Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Overview
Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Small woodpecker with black-and-white barred upperparts, shoulders, and wings, underparts are buff-gray with black spots, buff-gray face, red crown, and black forehead, nape, rump, and tail. Outer tail feathers are white barred. Bill, legs and feet are black.

Range and Habitat
Ladder-backed Woodpecker: Breeds from southwestern U.S. south to British Honduras. Found in wooded canyons, cottonwood groves, pine and pine oak woodlands, desert scrub, and desert grasslands dominated by mesquite.

The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is rated as Least Concern currently. The range of this bird species is about 3 million square kilometers. The population of the Ladder-backed Woodpecker is estimated at around 2 million individual birds. The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is native to Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize, Mexico, Honduras, the United States and Nicaragua. This bird is not considered to be facing any immediate dangers or threats to its range or population. The prior rating for this bird species was Lower Risk, which was downgraded to Least Concern as a result of its range and population.

INTERESTING FACTS
The Ladder-backed Woodpecker was first described in 1829 by Johann Georg Wagler, a German herpetologist. This woodpecker was once called the Cactus Woodpecker. Although it is restricted to desert and arid environments in the United States, it is found in pinelands in Central America. A group of woodpeckers has many collective nouns, including a "descent", "drumming", and "gatling" of woodpeckers.