Its hybrid zone between the yellow-shafted and red-shafted groups runs from northern Texas to southern Alaska, and has become one of the world's benchmark study systems for the consequences of secondary contact between lineages.
From Northern Flicker
As many as 13 subspecies have been described for it, grouped into five morphological types.
From Northern Flicker
In 2021 its chromosome-scale reference genome was published, making it one of the most thoroughly characterised woodpeckers genetically.
From Northern Flicker
It stores thousands of acorns in holes drilled into a single granary tree.
From Acorn Woodpecker
It stores acorns in "granary trees": the group drills thousands of holes in a single trunk and wedges an acorn into each one. Larders with tens of thousands of holes have been counted.
From Acorn Woodpecker
It lives in groups of three to twelve birds that jointly defend the territory, the larder, the nesting areas and the feeding areas.
From Acorn 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.
From Gila Woodpecker
Unlike the acorn woodpecker, with which it shares a genus, it is a solitary bird and does not form cooperative groups.
From Gila Woodpecker

Ecosystems