Gila Woodpecker

• It excavates its nests in the saguaro, the giant cactus of the Sonoran Desert; the abandoned cavities are later reused by elf owls, bats and other birds.
• Unlike the acorn woodpecker, with which it shares a genus, it is a solitary bird and does not form cooperative groups.
• It is diurnal: it spends much of the day foraging and retires at nightfall.
• It excavates its nests inside living saguaros; the cavity, which the cactus lines with a hard crust known as a "boot", is later reused by elf owls, kestrels and many other birds.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Deserts of Aridoamerica with large cacti or large trees, in southern Arizona and western Mexico. It nests in cavities, and visits feeders and suburban areas

Size at birth

Altricial chicks, blind and helpless, which stay about four weeks in the cavity before flying

Gestation / incubation

14 days

Litter / clutch size

4

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List · eBird (Cornell Lab) · Animalia.bio · CONABIO/EncicloVida · Baird 1854

Best time: All year round in the deserts of the North American south-west

The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.