On Oct 4, 2015, at 2:40 PM, panteradeath666 <seanari@live.com> wrote:Do they often travel south of their normal range? I can't recall one this far south. I am no expert.
Black-backed Woodpeckers are well-known wanderers, with irregular incursions to places outside their usual breeding range. Early signs of these movements often develop in September-October. Three-toed Woodpecker does this too but much, much less often. Black-backed Woodpecker is especially interested in wood-boring insects that attack dead trees, e.g. after a fire or after insect infestations (spruce budworm). Since burns and bug outbreaks come and go, these woodpeckers do too, and the wandering impulse seems to be a part of their nature.
One showed up on the lower Penobscot at Stockton Springs last fall on September 17th (it was an odd bird with an orange-red instead of yellow crown patch). That bird was on white pine too. Maybe that was an early indication of what brought a bird to the middle of Boston. In addition to urban settings, the species has made it across open ocean too, with a few records for Monhegan. As for how far south they occur, the species breeds south to the central Sierra Nevada in California (but is strangely absent in the central and southern Rockies where Three-toed extends much farther south). There are records at least to New York city and New Jersey, for example.
If you're into it, check out this summary of incursions through 1985. Although 30 years-old, the cycles and patterns haven't changed substantially. Here is a link:
The Maine Bird Records Committee web site has links to important references on Maine birds that might help you:
Ralph Palmer's book (1949) is linked there and has a good summary Black-backed Woodpecker incursions--click the book cover next to "Maine Birds" and that will take you to the book; go to page 343-345 by grabbing the little slider at the bottom left (you are aiming for "Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker," which is the old name for Black-backed Woodpecker).
The committee also has all of Maine Bird Notes scanned and available for perusal. Those cover records from 1987-2000.
Happy reading!
Louis Bevier
Fairfield
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