The Three-toed Woodpecker

By Al Lowe
Contributor

Almost all birds in the world have four toes - three forward and one back. But we have two woodpeckers which have only three toes - for what reason, we'll never know.
These two are distinguished by another feature. While most of our male woodpeckers have red on their heads, these two have yellow. These two have yellow patches on the very top and front of their heads - the only woodpeckers in the world to have this colour. The females, as with many others of the clan, don't have any bright colours on their heads.
These woodpeckers are natives of the northern forest. They live pretty well across Canada from the tree-line south. While they can be found almost anywhere in the evergreen woods, they prefer certain areas. Major choices are burnt over areas where there are standing dead trees, or muskeggy places, where a lot of the trees have, at one time or another, been drowned. They prefer dead or dying trees, which usually have a lot of the boring insects in them.
Well, what are these three-toed woodpeckers? Here they are.
The Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus)
This one used to be called the Northern Three-toed Woodpecker. It has black wings, and a white breast. Its sides are heavily barred. The impression you get is that of a black-and-white bird, with that yellow crown. Take note that this one has white bars on its back, which can sometimes look like a white streak. This is an easy way to tell the two species apart, too.
The Black-backed Woodpecker (Picoides arcticus)
The old name for this one was the Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker. It is very much like the other one except that this time the back is all black - no stripes of any kind. Sides are again heavily barred. Female is coloured the same way minus the yellow top.
These woodpeckers are just about 100% beneficial. They live on insects, larvae, pupae, and so on, which they get from the trunks and branches.
In zeroing in on dead trees, they consume an enormous amount of insects which might otherwise spread to living ones.
These are our two three-toed woodpeckers. About the size of a robin, they are not too hard to find in our northern woods, especially in the winter. Remember, the Black-backed has a solid black back, while the Three-toed has some white on its back. Otherwise, they are just about alike.