Wilson based his description on some bird skins that had been collected on an expedition across the western portion of the United States led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1803–1806.

[2] Unfortunately, the specific epithet was preoccupied by the ringed woodpecker, Celeus torquatus (Boddaert, 1783) and so in 1849 the English zoologist George Robert Gray coined a new name Picus lewis.

[4] Lewis's woodpecker is now placed in the genus Melanerpes that was erected by the English ornithologist William Swainson in 1832.

The wings are much broader than those of other woodpeckers, and it flies at a much more sluggish pace with slow, but even flaps similar to those of a crow.

[9] Measurements:[10] Lewis's woodpecker is locally common to the northwestern United States, dwelling mostly in open pine woodlands, and other areas with scattered trees and snags.

The migration patterns of the Lewis's Woodpecker are unclear due to their nomadic lifestyle and feeding habits.

[12] It ranges mostly in the western to central United States, but in the winter it can be found as far south as Southern California and the US border with Mexico.