black-backed woodpecker

noun

: a three-toed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) native to forests of the northern U.S. and Canada that is black above and white below with dark barring on the flanks, a white facial stripe, and in the male a yellow crown

Then we spot it: a black-backed woodpecker, going about its business of dismantling the bark from a dead lodgepole pine, oblivious to the humans watching from below.—

Terry Richard, Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 23 May 2010

On another trail we found two black-backed woodpeckers quietly pecking at the bases of conifers.—

Gerry Rising, Buffalo News, 20 Feb. 2005

Word History

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of black-backed woodpecker was in 1828

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Black-backed woodpecker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black-backed%20woodpecker. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

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