These woodpeckers breed in northwest Idaho during the summer, populating areas near the border to Washington until fall.
They fly out of state in the winter, so their presence follows extremes of ‘abundant’ and ‘absent’ between the warm and cold months.
Other than the sleek black feathers on their backsides which provide their name, black-backed woodpeckers also have a distinct black-and-white stripe pattern that runs from its legs across the top of its beak.
This is usually contrasted against a white stomach, often speckled with black and/or grey, and an occasional patch of golden feathers across its brow.
Unlike many of its kin, these birds would rather pick at the termites and wood-boring beetles found in destroyed trees rather than seek food in healthy ones.