NUTTALL WOODPECKER. Dryobates nuttalli (Gambel)

Field characters.—Size small for a woodpecker, little over half that of Modoc Woodpecker. Whole back, wings, sides of body, and outer tail feathers barred or spotted with black and white; throat and breast white, unmarked; head black, with a white stripe above and another below eye; back of head red in adult males. Juvenile birds of both sexes have more or less red on crown of head. Flight course in short swoops or undulations, with intermittent wing strokes. Voice: A loud, high-pitched trill.

Occurrence.—Common resident in Lower and Upper Sonoran zones, west of main Sierra Nevada. Recorded from Snelling and Lagrange eastward to El Portal; casual in Yosemite Valley. Frequents oaks, digger pines, and to a lesser extent cottonwoods and willows.

The Nuttall Woodpecker differs in habits from the slightly smaller Willow Woodpecker in that it usually frequents situations far from water, typically those on the upper hill slopes. At Snelling this species was seen only in cottonwoods, probably because these were the only trees there affording it appropriate forage. But at Pleasant Valley, Mount Bullion, and El Portal the birds were in digger pines and blue oaks. On the morning of May 24, during the taking of a five hour census at Pleasant Valley, a dozen were seen. Some of these showed solicitude and were probably nesting in the vicinity. The call of the Nuttall Woodpecker is louder and more sustained than that of the Willow Woodpecker.

The species was noted at the mouth of Indian Cañon in Yosemite Valley throughout almost the entire months of November and December, 1920 (C. W. Michael, MS).