| The Hairy Woodpecker and the Downy Woodpecker are similar in plumage. Both have a white back, a black and white streaked face and males have a red head patch. The wings are a barred black and white and the underneath is white. The Downy Woodpecker is much smaller being only 6 inches in length. The bill is much larger in the Hairy Woodpecker and helps to separate the two species. The outer tail feathers of the Hairy are entirely white while the Downy will have dark bars.
This Woodpecker is a year round resident in deciduous forests from the southern half of Alaska, through most of Canada and the United States.
Both the male and the female will drum on resonant wood called "signal posts". Males and females select different signal posts and will sometimes use drainpipes or gutters because of its resonant quality. This drumming is used to mark the territory or to attract mates. The territory may extend over several acres and overlap the territory of other woodpeckers, and only a small area around the nest is aggressively defended. Conflicts over territory tend to be rare as the birds are year round residents and the territories are well marked over the years. Conflicts involving a third bird competing for a mate occurs more frequently. Aggressive behavior toward the intruding bird may include bill waving, drumming, still-poses, and an occasional "v-wing" formation where the bird raises its wings in a 45 degree anger. The drumming is different from the rather random sounds that are made when the bird is excavating the nest or foraging for food.
The clutch consists of 4 white eggs laid in a hole about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The nest is excavated by both parents but is excavated mostly by the male and is usually placed in a live aspen or oak tree. Once excavation of the nest has begun it is aggressively defended especially against the European Starling which competes strongly for these sites. The eggs are incubated by both sexes taking turns during the day while the male will incubate most of the night. The eggs hatch in 11 or 12 days and fledge the nest about 30 days later. Both parents bring food to the young. When first hatched the bird will enter the nest to feed the young. As they become older the parents will perch on the hole to feed the young and just before fledging they will stand outside the nest and feed the young through the hole. In this manner it is possible to estimate the age of the young. When the young leave the nest they are already accomplished flier but will be fed by the parents for a few more days as they beg for food. Once they can fend for themselves the young leave the territory while the parent remain.
Like other woodpeckers this bird is economically very beneficial as it eats harmful insects such as wood boring beetles which it extracts with its barbed tongue. The Hairy Woodpecker is a much less frequent visitor than the Downy to your winter feeders.
Length: 9 inches
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