 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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2.05 (0.274 - 3.76)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Atlas results coming soon
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
American Three-toed Woodpeckers favour mature coniferous forests, especially spruce, and breed farther north than any other woodpecker species in North America. In contrast to the loud vocalizations and flamboyant displays of many other woodpeckers, they are usually quiet and secretive, but they can be approached quite closely once detected. This bird is a specialist feeding on bark beetles that live in the cambium just beneath tree bark. It occurs as a permanent resident from Alaska south to the mountains of the western US, northwest Montana and east through Saskatchewan to the boreal forest of eastern Canada and northeastern US (Leonard 2001).
These woodpeckers favour coniferous forest, especially burns and other areas with standing dead trees (Smith 1996). They require a high density of mature and decaying trees to find enough food beneath the bark. Vagrants to the south are usually seen in conifer plantations.
This is an uncommon permanent resident of the forests of the subarctic, boreal forest, and Cypress Hills regions, and a rare and erratic visitant to the parklands, mainly to urban areas such as Saskatoon and Regina (Smith 1996).
Original text by Karen Wiebe. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the American Three-toed Woodpecker in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. American Three-toed Woodpecker in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=ATTW&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
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