Visual Search | Wizard | Browse
Bird name:
Home| Search| Browser| Expert| Forum| Store| My WhatBird| Help| Site Map

Hairy Woodpecker

Picoides villosusOrder: PICIFORMES Family: Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Codes: Common Name: HAWO Scientific Name: PICVIL ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178262
Least Concern
ask community
Hairy Woodpecker
Copyright © 2004 - 2008 Whatbird.com
whatbird search for your browser
whatbird search for your browser
Splitbar
Rate this Illustration: Excellent Very Good Good
Fair Below Avg Poor

Birdman Mel's Backyard Tips
Clingers Only Feeder
Weather resistant inexpensive feeder is ideal for small birds.
Suet Delight
Easy to hang and maintain, holds all kinds of packaged suet.
Ultimate Woodpecker Feeder
Only allows woodpeckers to feed made of Inland Cedar.
The No-No Copper Feeder
Beautiful copper feeder holds 2.5 lbs of sunflower seeds.
Attracting Clingers

Overview

Hairy Woodpecker: Small woodpecker with black-and-white upperparts, white underparts. Head has red hindcrown patch. Face is white with black stripes.Tail is black with white outer tail feathers. Northwest birds have gray-brown breast, belly, and rump. Bill is long and black. Legs and feet are black.


Range and Habitat

Hairy Woodpecker: Resident from Alaska across Canada south throughout the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico. Some northern birds migrate south for the winter. Preferred habitats include deciduous forests.

whatbird search for your browser
whatbird search for your browser

Topo Map: Tree-clinging-like Body


Listen to Call

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"brrrrup", "kweek"

Interesting Facts

 The Hairy Woodpecker has more than 17 recognized subspecies.

 They are the most prolific woodpeckers in North America.

 The males incubate the eggs during the night while the females incubate them during the day.

 A group of woodpeckers has many collective nouns, including a "descent", "drumming", and "gatling" of woodpeckers.


Bird Term Glossary



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Artist

Yury Lisyak

Splitbar
Range Map for Hairy Woodpecker

.
Family Woodpecker (Picidae)_blue
Species Picoides villosus
Length8.5 - 10.5 Inches
Wingspan16.25 Inches

Hairy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker: Small woodpecker with black-and-white upperparts, white underparts. Head has red hindcrown patch. Face is white with black stripes.Tail is black with white outer tail feathers. Northwest birds have gray-brown breast, belly, and rump. Bill is long and black. Legs and feet are black.

● Song: "brrrrup", "kweek"

● Foraging & Feeding: Hairy Woodpecker: Diet consists of insects, especially gypsy moth caterpillars and pupae, spiders, nuts, seeds, and fruits; forages in trees, bushes, brush piles, and canes.

● Breeding & nesting: Hairy Woodpecker: Three to six white eggs are laid in a hole in a tree. Incubation ranges from 11 to 15 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Hairy Woodpecker: Downy Woodpecker is smaller, has proportionally smaller bill, barred outer tail feathers, and different call.

Flight Pattern

Rapidly beating wings., Undulating flight.
Hairy Woodpecker Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Hairy Woodpecker: Resident from Alaska across Canada south throughout the U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico. Some northern birds migrate south for the winter. Preferred habitats include deciduous forests.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationFairly common
MigrationSome migrate
Weight2.5 Ounces
Tree-clinging-like BodyX
UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
UpperpartsX
Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.
BellyX
The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
FaceX
The front part of the head consisting of the bill, eyes, cheeks and chin.
Outer tail feathersX
The tail feathers farthest from the center.
RumpX
The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Read more...
ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

Read more...
Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX