Furry woodpecker

Appearance

A small woodpecker of a dense physique with a short, broad beak at the base and a slightly blunt beak at the end. Its size is comparable to the small speckled woodpecker that lives in Eurasia: length 15-17 cm, weight 20.7-32.2 g ^[3] . The wingspan is about 30 cm ^[4] . The general coloration is similar to that of mottled woodpeckers : a black top with a mottled white pattern is combined with a whitish or grayish-brown belly. A characteristic feature of the species is a wide white longitudinal strip of soft fluffy feathers on the back, for which the woodpecker acquired its name; other feathers of a back are black.

The head looks striped due to the alternation of black and white stripes. The forehead and nape are black; an adult male has a small red spot on the nape. A black strip in the form of a “mask” stretches through the eyes from the base of the beak to the back of the head, another strip - “mustache” - from the base of the beak to the side of the neck (the latter can be blurred near the beak). In between the black stripes, the feathers of the head are white. Covering wings are black with fairly large white apical spots, wing-winged blacks with a white speckled pattern on the outer webs and white stripes on the inside. The tail is black, but the extreme pair of helmsmen has a white border along the outer edge ^[5] .

The red mark on the back of the head is the only external difference between an adult male and a female. Young birds of both sexes are similar to an adult female, however, the dark plumage plots in them look paler, with a brownish tint, and light ones, on the contrary, are more dirty, grayish. Within the range of the furry woodpecker, you can confuse it with a hairy woodpecker , which has a similar similar plumage color. In comparison of these two species, the furry woodpecker looks noticeably smaller and with a much shorter beak. The same difference applies between females of furry and three-toed woodpeckers ; in addition, these two species have different habitats and vocalizations ^[5] . Finally, with the Nuttal and Texas woodpeckers, the entire back looks striped black and white, while the fluffy back is black with a white longitudinal stripe.

Voice

As with most species of motley and three-toed woodpeckers, the voice activity of the furry woodpecker falls on the pre-nuptial and mating periods, however, with the beginning of incubation, it disappears. All the sounds made by the furry woodpecker are not very loud, but sharp and high. The usual call is the monosyllabic cry “peak”, in case of alarm repeated several times. Sometimes it emits a series of sounds that lasts about 2 seconds and fades out at the end: “pit..pit..pit..pit..pit..pit” ^{[3] [6]} . The drum roll is short, but can be repeated 10-15 times per minute ^[7] .

Range

A furry woodpecker nests in a strip of forest in North America, where its area of ​​distribution is limited to two states - the United States and Canada . The northern boundary of the range passes approximately along the border of the taiga and forest-tundra through the southeastern part of Alaska , the upper Mackenzie , the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan , the southern part of Quebec and Newfoundland . The southern border of nesting runs along the southern border of forests through the southern states of the USA: southern California , northern Arizona , northern New Mexico , Oklahoma , Texas and Florida , where it extends to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico ^{[5] [7]} .

In most cases, leads a sedentary lifestyle, but in search of food in the winter can make local wanderings. Readiness for such movements increases on the northern periphery of the range, where winters are especially cold, but in this case, migration rarely exceeds 1000 km.

Habitats

It inhabits various types of forests, preferring deciduous, especially with the participation of willow , birch and poplar , as well as areas with dense undergrowth. In mature forests and areas with a large number of sick and dead trees does not occur. In mixed forest types, it settles mainly where Tsuga grows. He chooses coniferous forests less willingly, but sometimes settles on burns - especially where young trees appear or there are islands of deciduous trees. Coniferous taiga avoids. In the semi-arid southern and southwestern parts of the range, it settles in river valleys with bushes. It is common on cultivated landscapes in gardens and parks, usually where shrubbery is planted. In the western part of the range, it nests at an altitude of 1860–2750 m above sea level ^[5] .

About 75% of the diet is insects and other invertebrates, of which about a third are bark beetles from the genus sapwood and ants . Spiders , half-winged , diptera , hymenoptera , caterpillars and grasshoppers also eat. Beginning in the second half of summer, the proportion of plant foods has been growing: birds feed on various berries, including fluffy red elderberry ( Sambucus pubens ), seeds and nuts. Finally, woodpeckers willingly visit bird feeders ^{[5] [3]} .

The forage is most often obtained on low trees and shrubs with smooth bark and a trunk diameter of not more than 25 cm, living or dead, as well as on felled wood. Willingly examines woody vegetation destroyed by forest fires. On large trees, as well as trees with a thick wrinkled bark, it most often feeds in the winter season ^[8] .

Reproduction begins at the end of the first year of life. The formation of pairs most likely occurs between January and March, when the birds are most excited. Like many other species of woodpeckers, mating activity is manifested in the frequent cries and drum roll of both sexes. Due to the commitment to one site in the event of abundance of feed, many couples resume partnerships that were interrupted at the end of the previous season ^[7] .

The hollow is located in the trunk or lateral branch of a dead tree, or at least in its dead part, which is actively affected by the fungus. As a rule, deciduous species with a not very wide trunk - aspen, birch, etc. are selected. Sometimes birds arrange a nest in telegraph poles and other man-made structures. The place for the hollow is usually chosen by the female; both birds of the pair alternately engage in gouging for 13–20 days. The height of the hollow above the surface of the earth is usually from 3.5 to 9 m, often it is located a few centimeters down from the stubby end of the trunk. Egg laying in the southern part of the range in April - May, in the north in May - June. In the clutch, as a rule, 3-6 (an average of 4.8) white shiny eggs, but in the northern part there can be more - up to 7 pieces ^{[5] [3]} .

Both birds incubate alternately - at the beginning approximately equally, and towards the end of incubation more males. Naked and blind chicks synchronously appear on the 12th day after the start of incubation. The first four days, one of the parents is inseparably in the nest, heating the offspring and throwing out the discharge from it. At the age of 20–23 days, the chicks leave the nest, however, for about three weeks they keep their parents on the alert, who feed them from time to time and warn of the imminent danger ^{[5] [3]} .

The systematic position of the furry woodpecker, as well as a whole group of other species of woodpeckers, is under revision. Currently, in most sources the described species is attributed to the genus Picoides , for which the Russian-language name is three-toed woodpeckers ^[9] (this name does not reflect the characteristics of the furry woodpecker, which has 4 fingers traditionally). Some authors, in particular Eugene Koblik, attribute all four-fingered woodpeckers with a similar mottled black and white plumage to the genus Dendrocopos , considering their transfer to Picoides unjustified ^[10] .

Genetic DNA studies conducted in 2002 by specialists from Wayne State University ( Wayne State University , Detroit , USA) showed a close family relationship between the furry woodpecker and the Eurasian small speckled woodpecker and two non-Arctic species - Texas and Nuttal woodpeckers. The rest of the species belonging to Dendrocopos and Picoides showed a much more distant kinship relationship with the furry woodpecker ^[2] . In the southern part of the range, where the furry woodpecker is sympathetic to the Texas and Nattal woodpeckers, barren hybrid forms with these two species are found ^[3] .

Six to eight subspecies of the furry woodpecker are distinguished. The American Society of Ornithologists lists 7 of them:

• Picoides pubescens glacialis ( Grinnell , 1910)
• Picoides pubescens leucurus ( Hartlaub , 1852)
• Picoides pubescens gairdnerii ( Audubon , 1839)
• Picoides pubescens turati ( Malherbe , 1860)
• Picoides pubescens nelsoni ( Oberholser , 1896)
• Picoides pubescens medianus ( Swainson , 1832)
• Picoides pubescens pubescens ( Linnaeus , 1766)

• Jackson, Jerome A .; Ouellet, Henri R. Downy woodpecker: Picoides pubescens in The Birds of North America, No. 613 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). - Philadelphia: American Orinthologists' Union, Cornell University. Laboratory of Ornithology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 2003. (English)
• Sibley, David. A Field Guide to Birds of Eastern America. - London: Christopher Helm, 2003 .-- ISBN 0-7136-6657-9 . (eng.)
• Winkler, Hans; Christie, David; Nurney, David. Woodpeckers: An Identification Guide to the Woodpeckers of the World. - Houghton Mifflin, 1995 .-- ISBN 0395720435 . (eng.)
• Winkler, Hans; Christie, David A. 2002. Family Picidae (Woodpeckers) in del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., & Sargatal, J., eds. Volume 7: Jacamars to Woodpeckers. // Handbook of the birds of the world. - Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, 2002 .-- ISBN 84-87334-37-7 . (eng.)
• Koblik E.A. Variety of birds (based on the materials of the exposition of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University. - Publishing House of Moscow State University, 2001. - Vol. 3 (Squad-like, Goat-like, Swift-like, Mouse-bird, Crown-shaped, Rakshoobraznye, Woodpecker, Sparrow-shaped orders (family. Dart frog-Mockingbird)) .- 358 p. - ISBN 5-211-04072-4 .