A new record of Lewis’s Woodpecker, Melanerpes lewis (Gray, 1849) (Aves, Picidae) from Chihuahua, with comments on its status in Mexico

Abstract

We present a new record of Lewis’s Woodpecker, Melanerpes lewis (Gray, 1849), a rare winter visitor to northern Mexico, in a riparian-grassland corridor at La Regina, Buenaventura Municipality, Chihuahua, on 11–12 January 2014. The record represents the fourth record of this species in the state, and the first record for both the northern portion of the Chihuahua region and the Mexican ecoregion level IV “Foothills and Plains with grasslands, xerophytic scrub and conifer oak forests”. We also comment on its current status and distribution in Mexico.