GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

White-headed Woodpecker (Picoides albolarvatus)

Species Code: PIAL

This is an "at risk" species

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

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Compare range maps with other woodpeckers

Map with Breeding Bird Atlas records

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

This species was locally common in Ponderosa Pine forests of the eastern Cascades, were locally uncommon east of the Okanogan River, and very local in the Blue Mountains. This species is most common along the southeastern slopes of the Cascades in the extensive Ponderosa Pine forests of this region.

Good habitat in the core areas of use included all conifer forests in the Ponderosa Pine and Oak zones of eastern Washington, and in the steppe zones near margins of the lower forest zones. Local and peripheral areas of use were in open conifer forest in the Interior Douglas-fir zone in the northeast.

Washington breeders represent the nominate northern subspecies P. a. albolarvatus. In the Blue Mountains, it is currently only known to breed at Fields Spring State Park, though it formerly may also have bred along the Tucannon River. The White-headed Woodpecker is a pine-obligate, seldom occurring outside the Ponderosa Pine zone in Washington. Where logging occurs in Ponderosa Pine forests, habitats for White-headed Woodpeckers can quickly disappear. In the southeastern Cascades, much of the suitable habitat for this species is found on the Yakima Indian Reservation. Despite the paucity of breeding season records from Ferry, Stevens, and Spokane Counties, White-headed Woodpeckers are found in most years on the Spokane Indian Reservation in autumn. Other known sites in these counties include Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge; northern Spokane and the Little Spokane River Natural Area; and Long Lake Dam. They are occasionally found in conifer forests above the Ponderosa Pine zone up to 3500 feet.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester