Oh happy day! I’ve spotted a new bird here at the Paddington Drive wildlife habitat! Seriously, nothing is quite as exciting as seeing a new bird species.
This ladder-backed woodpecker showed up on my sage bush. He didn’t seem interested in the bird feeder right in front of him, but was instead content with picking small worms off the shrub. Apparently, it’s worm/caterpillar season because I’ve had a terrible time with them eating my watermelon plants, and our backyard mountain laurel is infested with tent worms. I’m reluctant to use BT anywhere but my vegetable garden since I have butterfly plants in the front, so this guy was doing me a favor. Thanks, little bird!
Here’s a brief species account from The Cornell Labs All About Birds page:
When traveling through the scattered cactus and mesquite of the arid southwestern U.S., it’s difficult to believe that these almost treeless habitats are home to woodpeckers. But the Ladder-backed (once known as the “Cactus Woodpecker”) is an attractive dweller of deserts, desert scrub, and thorn forests. It can also be found in pinyon pine and pinyon-juniper forest. Like many small dwellers of arid habitats, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers can be inconspicuous and quiet, requiring a bit of time and patience to find. Their small size and agility make them deft foragers among the thorns and spines of plants like cholla, mesquite, and prickly pear.
Ladder-backed Woodpeckers may come for mealworms offered at feeding stations; they have also been observed eating peanut butter and black oil sunflower seeds. In the northern parts of the range, suet feeders sometimes attract them. To attract a nesting pair, try growing native vegetation and leave dead trees standing when possible; this species does not typically use nest boxes.”
To learn more, visit: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ladder-backed_Woodpecker#_ga=2.909873.1842200963.1594845711-1861089910.1594845711