Taxonomy/Description
The Hairy Woodpecker is very similar to its smaller
cousin, the Downy Woodpecker, but is much larger. The
male has a small red patch on the back of his head, and
the female’s is black. The Hairy Woodpecker has a white
belly, a large white stripe on his back, and his wings
are black with white spots in horizontal rows.
The Hairy Woodpecker has a large, pointed bill. The
Hairy Woodpecker has two toes pointing forward, and two
backward. These feet, though adapted for clinging to a
vertical surface, can be used for grasping or perching.
The Hairy Woodpecker has a long tongue that can be
darted forward to capture insects. The tongue is not
attached to the woodpecker’s head in the same way as it
is in most birds, but instead it curls back up around
its skull, which allows it to be so long.
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. Hairy Woodpeckers in the Rocky Mountains are white
below, but have few spots on their wings. Populations on
islands often are distinctive (Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, 2003).
Habitat/Diet
The Hairy Woodpecker is a resident bird from central
Alaska to Newfoundland, southward to Florida and Central
America excluding dry habitats such as southern Texas.
It avoids desert, grassland habitats, and tropical
rainforests. It is a habitat generalist, preferring
dense coniferous and mixed deciduous forest.
The Hairy Woodpecker feeds on insects and other
arthropods, as well as fruits, seeds, and sap. The Hairy
Woodpecker prefers dead standing trees, or snags,
because they tend to be full of grub and termites. The
Hairy Woodpecker, like most woodpeckers, climbs on the
sides of trees, and ascends by spiraling. The Hairy
Woodpecker first locates a tunnel inside a tree that
contains insects by tapping on the trunk. Once a tunnel
is found, the woodpecker chisels out wood until it makes
an opening into the tunnel. Then it worms its tongue
into the tunnel to try to locate the grub. The tongue of
the woodpecker is long and ends in a barb. With its
tongue the woodpecker skewers the grub and draws it out
of the trunk. The Hairy Woodpecker will also forage by
gleaning, which is the catching of insects and other
invertebrates by plucking them from within foliage. The
Hairy Woodpecker may visit suet feeders.
Behavior/Reproduction
Hairy Woodpeckers form monogamous breeding pairs in late
winter, and pairs from previous seasons often re-pair.
Hairy Woodpeckers are cavity nesters. Both members of
the pair excavate nesting and roosting holes in soft or
rotten wood, especially in aspens or dead conifers. Both
sexes excavate a cavity in live wood, and usually no
other nesting material is used. 3 to 7 eggs are laid by
the female, and are incubated by both parents. Males
brood the eggs at night, and females during the day.
Eggs hatch in 12-14 days, and the young are born
altricial, or naked and helpless. The young birds leave
the cavity in 25-30. Young birds will accompany adults
for the first two weeks or so before they become
independent. Each pair typically raises one brood per
year.
Where to see them in WNY
The Hairy Woodpecker is much
more elusive than its cousin the Downy Woodpecker. If
you wish to see a Hairy Woodpecker, be prepared to wait
a while, and listen carefully. One place you may see the
Hairy Woodpecker is in the 10,800 acres of Iroquois
National Wildlife Refuge. You may also want to venture
to Tift Nature Preserve, three miles outside downtown
Buffalo, or Losson Park in Cheektowaga, or other similar
places.