Picoides arcticus
Silhouette: Richard Rich · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The black-backed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus), also known as the Arctic three-toed woodpecker, is a medium-sized woodpecker (23 cm (9.1 in) long) inhabiting the forests of North America. The black-backed woodpecker was described and illustrated by the English naturalist William Swainson in 1832 from a specimen collected near the source of the Athabasca River on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. He coined the binomial name Picus arcticus. The specific epithet arcticus is the Latin word for "northern" or "arctic". The
black-backed woodpecker is now placed in the genus Picoides which was erected by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The plumage of adults is black on the head, back, wings and rump. They are white from the throat to the belly; the flanks are white with black bars. Their tail is black with white outer feathers. There is an element of sexual dimorphism in the plumage, with the adult male possessing a yellow cap. Unlike all other true woodpeckers except the related American and Eurasian three-toed woodpeckers, this species has three... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Voyageurs National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Gros Morne National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Isle Royale National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 11 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 12 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Black-backed Woodpecker sighting in Isle Royale National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 89th most-seen of the 105 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-backed Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Black-backed Woodpecker sightings, Isle Royale National Park ranks 7th at under 5%. The best odds are in Yosemite National Park (United States, about 10%), Glacier National Park (United States, under 5%) and Voyageurs National Park (United States, under 5%).
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Black-backed Woodpecker that you can see in Isle Royale National Park (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Pileated Woodpecker (about 40%), Northern Flicker (about 40%) and Hairy Woodpecker (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-backed Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Isle Royale National Park (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
