Nutalls Wood Pecker

Aves,thanks for your perfect analysis. I learnt how to not mix up the two now!!

This is a Nuttall's Woodpecker for a few reasons, namely: 1) Ladder-backed Woodpecker is a desert species that occurs in CA only in the southeast, overlapping with the Nuttall's in Los Angeles and Kern counties, and 2) the upper back is completely black, whereas the white stripes would extend to the nape in the Ladder-backed.