We were on the patio this afternoon when this colorful bird perched on a mesquite tree on the hill behind the patio. I took several pictures with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi camera through the telephoto lens and this one came out the best.
We didn’t recognize the species, so we looked it up in our “Birds of Arizona” pamphlet. It is an adult male Gila Woodpecker – note the little red patch on the top of his head. Immature and female birds do not have the red patch. Click on the image to enlarge.
Wikipedia describes this bird’s habitat and some other interesting facts:
The Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) is a medium-sized woodpecker of the desert regions of the southwestern United States. They range through southeastern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico.
This woodpecker’s habitat consists of low desert scrub typical of the Sonoran desert. They build nests in holes made in saguaro cacti or mesquite trees. Cavities excavated by these woodpeckers in saguaro cacti are later used by a variety of other species, including the Elf Owl. There, they typically lay 3-5 white eggs.
