Distribution

See All About Birds for a distribution map of the black-backed woodpecker.

The black-backed woodpecker has a fairly continuous distribution, occurring within the range of coniferous forests across northern North America. It breeds across central Canada, with populations as far north as west-central Alaska and west-central Northwest Territories. Isolated pockets of breeding occur in upstate New York and in eastern Wyoming and western South Dakota. Outside of the breeding season, individuals may move south out of the regular breeding range [17].

The black-backed woodpecker occurs in the following states and provinces (as of 2011) [66]:
United States: AK, CA, ID, MA, ME, MI, MN, MT, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OR, SD, VT, WA, WI, WY
Canada: AB, BC, LB, MB, NB, NF, NS, NT, ON, PE, QC, SK, YT