Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Dryobates nuttallii
Except for a small territory in coastal north Baja California, the Nuttall’s Woodpecker is a California oak woods specialist. They occur nowhere else. Some authorities still place this bird in the genus Picoides.
Nuttall’s Woodpeckers are closely related to Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers. Ladder-Backs haunt the deserts of the American Southwest, while the Nuttall’s prefer oak woodlands. Southeastern San Diego County near Campo is one of the few places where the ranges of these two birds overlap. A close look at the backs and the faces of these birds can help distinguish these two. The facial stripes and the back barring in the Nuttall’s is black dominated. The Ladder-Backed’s facial stripes and back bars are more boldly white. Their voices are also different. The Ladder-Backed will issue a “whinny” similar to a Downy Woodpecker. The Nuttall’s version is more a “rattle”, like an abbreviated call of a Belted Kingfisher.
Taxonomists regard the Nuttall’s Woodpecker as monotypic (i.e. there are no subspecies).
In 2017, I camped east of La Posta Road, near to the Mexican border with the science team from the San Diego Natural History Museum in eastern San Diego County. There, I met both the Ladder-Backed and Nuttall’s Woodpeckers in one of the few places where their ranges overlap. In my southern California hometown, the Nuttall’s Woodpecker is one of the most common woodpeckers I encounter. Only Acorn Woodpeckers outnumber them. That is primarily because the Nuttall’s Woodpecker is more of a solitary bird, where Acorn Woodpeckers always travel in a mob.
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20 Photos
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Poway. San Diego County, California. |
Date Taken: 2012:04:03 13:30 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: D3X9629-NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Vista Grande site. Images from the SDNHM study of the Santa Rosa, San Jacinto Mountains. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2010:06:30 7:44 |
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Location:
Vista Grande |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 |
File Name: JCD1893.NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2010 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: A male bird foraging in my Poway yard, California. San Diego County USA 2008-01-09. |
Date Taken: 2008:01:08 16:22 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D2X, 400 mm, f/4.0, 1/180 |
File Name: JCD3327NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2008 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Male bird bringing food to its brood in the nest hole in Poway. These birds excavate a fresh hole every year San Diego County, California USA 2002-05-13. |
Date Taken: 2002:05:12 19:23 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: Nikon SUPER COOLSCAN 4000 ED, |
File Name: A2E12A12-NuttalsWoodpecker |
| © 2002 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: A male bird from my yard in Poway. San Diego County, California USA 2003-07-23. |
Date Taken: 2003:07:22 11:38 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: |
File Name: A3G22A30NuttalsWoodpecker |
| © 2003 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: A cut-out image from a male bird in my yard in Poway. San Diego County, California USA 2013-03-02. |
Date Taken: 2013:03:02 14:44 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 |
File Name: Cut_D3X1183-NuttallsWoodpecker |
| © 2013 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.coms |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Santa Rosa Mountain, Southern Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2004:07:26 14:40 |
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Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
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Camera Information: NIKON D1X, 650 mm, f/8.0, 1/60 |
File Name: JCD_7524NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2004 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: A male yardbird in Poway. San Diego County, California USA 2013-03-02. |
Date Taken: 2013:03:02 14:44 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 |
File Name: D3X1183-NuttallsWoodpecker |
| © 2013 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Poway. San Diego County, California. |
Date Taken: 2012:04:28 10:27 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 |
File Name: D3X1472-NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Poway. San Diego County, California. |
Date Taken: 2014:03:22 10:59 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/250 |
File Name: D3X4254-NuttallsWoodpecker |
| © 2014 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Poway Creek, above Carriage Road foot bridge. Poway California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2012:12:14 10:02 |
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Location:
Poway Royal Mobile Estates |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 |
File Name: D3X9457-NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: The Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2015:08:12 15:17 |
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Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/80 |
File Name: D3X3227-NuttallsWoodpecker |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: The Springs at Santa Rosa Mountain. Riverside County, California. |
Date Taken: 2015:08:12 15:16 |
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Location:
Santa Rosa Mountain |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/8.0, 1/125 |
File Name: D3X3215-NuttallsWoodpecker |
| © 2015 Jack Daynes, shadeTree-Imaging.com |
NuttallsWoodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Dos Picos Park in Ramona, California, San Diego County.. |
Date Taken: 2016:01:11 11:53 |
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Location:
Dos Picos Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D7200, 400 mm, f/5.0, 1/640 |
File Name: D723283-NuttallsWoodpecker |
| © 2016 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: This individual appears to have a reddish discoloration on it's back that could be staining. Santa Margarita River Trail near Fallbrook, California. North San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2013:05:01 9:56 |
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Location:
Santa Margarita Trail |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/6.3, 1/250 |
File Name: D3X5508-NuttallsWoodpecker |
| © 2002 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Agua Dulce Creek, near the Sunrise Highway, South Of Julian, California. San Diego, California. |
Date Taken: 2013:08:09 9:32 |
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Location:
Agua Dulce Creek |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 |
File Name: D3X1240-NuttallsWoodpecker |
| © 2013 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Poway Creek, above Carriage Road foot bridge. Poway California. San Diego County. |
Date Taken: 2012:12:14 9:56 |
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Location:
Poway Royal Mobile Estates |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/400 |
File Name: D3X9409-NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTree Imaging |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Poway. San Diego County, California. |
Date Taken: 2012:04:28 10:42 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 |
File Name: D3X1631-NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Poway. San Diego County, California. |
Date Taken: 2012:04:28 10:32 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 |
File Name: D3X1577-NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
Nuttall's Woodpecker(Dryobates nuttallii) |
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Description: Poway. San Diego County, California. |
Date Taken: 2012:04:28 10:24 |
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Location:
Poway Grove Park |
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Camera Information: NIKON D3X, 800 mm, f/5.6, 1/640 |
File Name: D3X1468-NuttallsWoodPecker |
| © 2012 Jack Daynes, shadeTreeImaging.com |
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