The range of the Gila Woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis) closely coincides with the distribution of the Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) and Cardon (Pachycereus pringlei) cacti of the Sonoran Desert (Robbins et al. 1983). The woodpeckers’ nest cavities are usually excavated in the trunks and branches of these giant succulents and, to a lesser extent, in cottonwoods (Populus), mesquite (Prosopis), and willow (Salix) (Bent 1939).
The range of the Cardon extends to within 130 km of the U.S. border (Wiggins 1980), and presumably Gila Woodpeckers nest in this region. There is one record of a Gila Woodpecker from “Las Palmas Canyon” in extreme northern Baja, beyond the range of the Cardon (Grinnell 1928). Unfortunately, the precise location of “Las Palmas Canyon” is unknown and could be any of several canyons draining the eastern slopes of the Sierra Juarez that harbor palms.