Hairy Woodpecker

Picoides villosus

Order PICIFORMES - Family PICIDAE

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The most widespread resident woodpecker in North America, the Hairy Woodpecker is one of the most familiar too. It comes readily to bird feeders and is found in a variety of habitats.

Cool Facts

• The Hairy Woodpecker shows a great deal of morphological variation across its broad range, with more than 17 recognized subspecies. Northern birds tend to be larger than those farther south. Western birds are dark underneath and have few spots on the wings, while eastern birds are white underneath and have extensive spotting. Hairies in the Rocky Mountains are white below, but have few spots on their wings. Populations on islands often are distinctive.

• Across most of North America the Hairy Woodpecker can be found at a variety of elevations from sea level to high in the mountains. In Central America, it is restricted to the higher mountain forests.

• The Hairy and Downy woodpeckers occur together throughout most of their ranges. The Downy Woodpecker uses smaller branches while the Hairy Woodpecker tends to spend more time on the trunk. It might be thought that the larger woodpecker excludes the smaller one from more productive foraging spots, but it appears that just the reverse is true. In the Bahamas, where the Downy Woodpecker does not occur, the Hairy Woodpecker uses the branches more frequently.

• The Hairy Woodpecker is attracted to the heavy blows a Pileated Woodpecker makes when it is excavating a tree. The hairy forages in close association with the larger woodpecker, pecking in the deep excavations and taking insects that the pileated missed.

Description

• Size: 18-26 cm (7-10 in)
• Wingspan: 33-41 cm (13-16 in)
• Weight: 40-95 g (1.41-3.35 ounces)

• Medium-sized woodpecker.
• Black and white plumage.
• Plain white back.
• Bill thick and rather long.

• Mostly black upperparts.
• Center of back white.
• Underside completely white; may be grayish.
• Extension of black line down neck reaches onto shoulder.
• White stripes on face above and below black ear coverts.
• White spots on wings.
• Tail black in center with white outer tail feathers.
• Outermost tail feather on each side usually pure white.
• Bill nearly as long as head.
• Bill grayish, with whitish tip.
• Eyes deep reddish brown.
• Feet dark grayish, tinged blue or olive.

Sex Differences

Male with red patch on back of head, female with black patch.

Male

Red patch on rear of crown, at back of white eyestripe.

Female

White eyestripe without red at rear.

Immature

Juvenile male with red forehead and without red on back of head. Juvenile female similar, but usually lacks red.

Similar Species

• Downy Woodpecker is very similar in plumage, but is smaller, has a proportionately smaller bill, a shorter and less distinct black mark on the shoulder, and black spots or bars in the white outer tail feathers. (But beware downies that do not spread their tails and keep the black bars hidden.) For more information on distinguishing these species, developed for Project FeederWatch go here.
• Nuttall's and Ladder-backed woodpeckers have striped backs.
• Arizona Woodpecker has an all dark back, and is brown.
• American Three-toed Woodpecker usually has barred back, barred sides and flanks, smaller white stripes on face, and yellow on the crown.
• Black-backed Woodpecker has a black back, barred sides and flanks, and smaller white stripes on face.
• Sapsuckers have smudgy barring in the white on the back and a white stripe up the sides.

Sound

Call note a sharp "peek." Also a harsh rattle. Drum is very fast, with abrupt beginning and end.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from central Alaska to Newfoundland, southward to Florida and Central America. Also in the Bahamas.

Habitat

Found in mature woods, small woodlots, wooded parks, and residential areas with large trees.

Food

Insects and other arthropods, fruits, and seeds.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages by gleaning, probing, prying, scaling, tapping, and excavating.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest in cavity in trees or dead branch. No additional materials put in cavity.

Egg Description

White.

Clutch Size

3-7 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Naked and helpless.

Conservation Status

Common and widespread. May be declining slightly in some areas.

Other Names

Pic chevelu (French)
Carpintero-velloso mayor (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Jackson, J. A., H. R. Ouellet, and B. J. S. Jackson. 2002. Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus). In The Birds of North America, No. 702 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.