American three-toed woodpecker
The American three-toed woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis) is a medium-sized woodpecker (family Picidae), which is native to North America. Description This woodpecker has a length of , a wingspan of , and an average weight of ; its maximum lifespan in the wild is 6 years. It closely resembles the black-backed woodpecker, which is also three-toed. Until recently, it was considered to be the same species as the Eurasian three-toed woodpecker, P. tridactylus. Adults are black on the head, wings and rump, and white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. The back is white with black bars and the tail is black with the white outer feathers barred with black. The adult male has a yellow cap. Breeding The breeding habitat is coniferous forests across western Canada, Alaska and the western and extreme northeastern United States. It has also been seen in Michigan's upper peninsula, and has been recorded breeding in the extreme north of Wisconsin and Minnesota on extremely rare occasions. The female lays 3 to 7 but most often 4 eggs in a nest cavity in a dead conifer or sometimes a live tree or pole. The pair excavates a new nest