Weekend Birding: Hairy Woodpecker
The Hairy Woodpecker is a medium size bird, about 7 to 10 inches (18–26 cm) long, found across most of North America. They are resident birds and do not migrate. They can usually be found foraging along the trunks and branches of large mature trees. They will occasionally visit backyard feeders and are especially fond of suet and sunflower seeds.
Before I lost my large Elm trees to Dutch Elm disease, the Hairys were frequent visitors to my backyard.
The photo to the right was taken a few months before the trees were cut down. The bark is peeling and the damage from the beetles can be seen. I was not happy about the sick trees but the woodpeckers were thrilled. They were feasting on the bugs living in the diseased bark; insects make up the majority of their diet.
Now that the trees are gone I don’t see the Hairy’s as often. They still stop by, but months pass without seeing one.
Hairy vs Downy
The Hairy Woodpecker is often confused with the Downy Woodpecker. They look similar with only a few differences which become evident when they are seen together.
The Downy is the more common of the two and more likely to visit suburban areas. It is a much smaller bird at only 6.5 in (16 cm) with a short, dainty beak compared to the Hairy, a larger bird with a long, chisel-like beak.
Last summer a Hairy and a Downy stopped by for some suet at the same time providing a rare opportunity to photograph them together.
Both of these birds are females; the Hairy is on the right, the Downy on the left. The bird in the first photo in the tree is a male. A red spot on the back of the head in the Downy and Hairy indicates male. No red spot, then the bird is female.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2012 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Under My Apple Tree 
What great shots, and such an informative post, thanks Leslie. How great to have the two species together! I really want to see woodpeckers one day.
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I love bird photos! Beautiful!!
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The picture of the two of them together is priceless. I’ll have to look closer at the woodpecker in our back yard to see which we have.
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Love your woodpecker shots. We very occasionally get green woodpeckers where I live.
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The red spot sure makes it easy to tell the males from the females! Great pics, Leslie.
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I think these birds enjoy posing for you. Great shots. No one has touched my suet cakes in the last week – not sure why?
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Have you switched brands or flavors of suet? It sounds weird but birds can be fussy. They prefer my homemade peanut butter suet. When I went back to serving the store bought variety in the spring they weren’t eating it as much.
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Great shots, Leslie! I love your weekend birding posts because not only do you take fabulous shots, but I learn a lot. I like that!
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They’re gorgeous and do look very similar!
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All of this time I didn’t know they were digging for insects. Need to head back to Biology class. They are beautiful.
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They’ve been regulars at our suet feeders also …
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Did you use a long lens to get so close in the first pic? beautiful
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I use a 55-250mm zoom lens. It’s a medium distance lens.
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Lovely photos. I love birds.
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What fabulous photos. How do you manage to get such great shots? My Snapshot is at http://goo.gl/BIJkg
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Most of the birds in my yard know me and don’t run off when I’m outside. If I sit quietly on my deck they will resume their activity and I can great shots. When I ‘m out walking in the woods it’s very different. I have to hide behind bushes and trees and wait for them to get in range.
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I love their coloring! Wonderful photos, Leslie.
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So cute. Great feeder.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Saturday Snapshot
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Terrific shots! When we first moved to this rural area and saw the woodpeckers, we had trouble telling the downies and hairies apart. Three years later, we feel like old pros. There’s almost always one or the other on our feeders…sometimes both. Anyway, the female downies are my favourites. They will play “peekaboo” with me when I’m filling up the other feeders and only fly away when I’m reach for the feeder they are using. They are very cool!
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For a while I had trouble telling them apart in the field because I couldn’t judge size way up in a tree. When a Hairy finally showed up at my feeder I had no doubt what I was seeing. The bird was bigger than the suet feeder. My downies are very tame also. They don’t fly off until I reach for the feeder.
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I think the red-headed woodpeckers are more common in Ontario. I didn’t know what woodpeckers don’t migrate. Something new learned today. Thanks.
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The Red-headed is becoming harder to find in the Midwest. Due to a loss of habitat they are now classified as a near-endangered species.
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I like to hear the sounds of the woodpecker high up on a tree.
Thank you for the information about the birds.
Very nice photos.
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I forgot to mention that the Hairy has a very distinctive call. Once you know what it is you’ll often hear the bird before seeing it. And of course it also makes a loud drumming noise in the spring.
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Those are great photos! I’ve only seen one woodpecker in recent years and that was on a hike. It wouldn’t cooperate for photos. 🙂 When I was growing up there was a pileated woodpecker that visited trees near our house quite often. I wasn’t so fond of it first thing in the morning though.
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I am in awe of your knowledge of the birds that visit you…not to mention the great photos. Thanks for sharing!
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I see the Downy more often. It’s great that you can have a photo of them both. It’s an interesting pic, like the Hairy is intimidating the Downy… hey, don’t touch my dinner. I’ve bought a new camera at a Christmas sale, the Nikon D5100. But still using my old telelens. Still learning to use it. I can even take HD video with it.
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That’s a nice camera. My Canon doesn’t take video, I bought it a few years too soon! The Downy is very common here. While on a bird walk Saturday we saw two male Hairys on the same tree trunk… first time I’ve ever seen that.
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I’m not a birder, but I could stare at your bird photos all day. What kind of camera do you have? We are looking to buy a new one and I’m looking for recommendations.
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My camera is a Canon Rebel XSi (EOS 450D). It’s a few years old now. The newer Digital SLRs have even higher resolutions and HD movie capabilities. If you’re looking for a DSLR I recommend Canon or Nikon.
A good site with lots of camera info and reviews is http://www.dpreview.com Their buying guide has a feature search and side-by-side camera comparison. Very helpful.
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Great photos!
I never knew woodpeckers would come to birdfeeders until one started showing up at ours last week.
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I usually see them on the suet or peanut feeder but one of them goes to the seed feeder too. It looks kind of funny to see that big woodpecker hanging from the feeder since he can’t sit on the perch.
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