See all posts in the Birds of Carver County series
Carver County has enough mature forests and woodlands that it is likely that anywhere someone puts up a birdfeeder, there will be a hairy woodpecker that will take advantage of it. The Leuconotopicus villous species is widespread across North America, but different locations will result in slight changes in appearance.
Those in our region have black and white alternating lines on their face and wings. Their bellies and sides are white and there is a large white area on their back. The white feathers in that spot are thin and wiry and give this species its description as “hairy” or in Latin – “villous”. Eight or nine inches long, with a 15-inch wingspan, their light/dark appearance helps them blend with shadows in the trees. But once it starts to move, its large size makes the hairy woodpecker relatively easy to spot. It compares in size to the red-headed and red-bellied woodpeckers, but is smaller than the northern flicker.
Males and females are almost identical. Males are usually larger and have red feathers on the back of their head, bisected by a black “t” – shown in the comparison photo. Females do not show any red band.
When they are perched on a tree trunk, their sharply pointed tail feathers provide a stiff balance against the tree as they hop up the trunk. At their other end, hairy woodpeckers have a large bill that is about as long as the width of their skull. This characteristic is one of its features that is used to separate the hairy’s identity from the similar but smaller downy woodpecker. The comparison photo in this article illustrates that difference. At the base of the bill there is a tuft of stiff white feathers. It is thought that this helps shield their nostrils from wood dust while they are wood-working.
Although some seasonal movement may occur as winter arrives, hairy woodpeckers seem to stay put where they are able to find food. This results from foraging for insects in bark crevices and chiseling holes in trunks or large branches of trees (dead or live) to obtain wood-boring larvae. They will also feed on the suet, nuts and seeds that humans provide.
Nestlings are fed by regurgitation from both parents for about four weeks after hatching. The nests will be inside a tree cavity that was excavated two or three weeks prior to laying eggs. Males will tend the nest at night, then the morning shift is taken by the female. During most of the day, the parents alternate the responsibility of sitting on eggs and defending the nest. After hatching and fledging has ended, the parents remain together for the breeding season, but long-term relationships and longevity have not been studied.
Research about the vocalizations of hairy woodpeckers has produced the following description of their single-note calls: peek, tweek, cheerk, whinny, rattle, sputter, queek, kweek, woick, joick, teuk and wicka-wicka. Non-vocal sounds are probably noticed more often than their calls. Drumming against a particularly hard or hollow surface will be used to claim territory and sometimes as part of courtship. We can only hope they don’t choose man-made surfaces like downspouts or metal siding for their acoustic communication. Aside from seeing them with their fledglings or mate, hairy woodpeckers don’t often allow other woodpeckers within close range of “their” feeders.
Hairy woodpeckers are part of the four-season entourage that continues to live alongside us, no matter the weather or temperature. Coming to our suet, seed and peanut feeders, they keep us company as we sit outside or look out our windows. We might have trouble with the question “Is that a hairy or a downy?” Regardless of the answer, they are in the nest hole construction business that benefits many other species and they are a welcome member of our feathered communities.
For more information:
The Sibley Guide to Birds, David Allen Sibley
Reader’s Digest Book of North American Birds
Breeding Birds of Minnesota, Pfannmuller, Niemi and Green
The Audubon Society’s Encyclopedia of North American Birds, John K. Terres
Birds of the World, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Online: Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas
