Williamson's sapsucker (Sphyrapicus thyroideus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 9

Special Significance of the Species

Williamson's Sapsucker is of scientific interest as the oldest line, and the least genetically variable, of the North American sapsuckers. It is also of interest as the most sexually dimorphic of all species of woodpeckers, enough so to cause the misidentification of males and females as different species for the first 24 years for which the species was known.

In British Columbia, Williamson's Sapsuckers in the largest population (with 85% of the estimated species numbers in the province), may act as a representative, or an indicator, of the rapidly disappearing old-growth multi-storied Western Larch habitat. The species is of interest to birders because of its rarity, and because of its association in the province with the now-rare, old-growth Western Larch forests. The species is largely unknown to people without an interest in birding because of its relative rarity, and its general limitations to middle-elevation coniferous forests in British Columbia.

Williamson's Sapsucker is a priority species for Partners in Flight in the Great Basin (Partners in Flight British Columbia and Yukon 2003) and for the Canadian Intermountain Joint Venture (2003). It is also a Species of Continental Importance in the Intermountain West Avifaunal Biome, designated by Partners in Flight (Rich et al. 2004).

There is no known Aboriginal traditional use or knowledge of this species. 

Page details

Date modified: