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Difference between revisions of "Hairy Woodpecker" - BirdForum Opus

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[[Image:Hairy_Woodpecker.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Male of eastern type,notice extensive white markings on wings<br />Photo by {{user|Marcel+Gauthier|Marcel Gauthier}}<br /> Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]]]
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[[Image:Hairy_Woodpecker.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Male of eastern type, notice extensive white markings on wings<br />Photo by {{user|Marcel+Gauthier|Marcel Gauthier}}<br /> Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, [[Quebec]], [[Canada]]]]
 
;[[:Category:Picoides|Picoides]] villosus
 
;[[:Category:Picoides|Picoides]] villosus
 
==Identification==
 
==Identification==

Revision as of 16:30, 23 June 2013

Male of eastern type, notice extensive white markings on wings
Photo by Marcel Gauthier
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada
Picoides villosus

Identification

Males have a red patch on the back of the head.
Females lack this red patch.
Juvenile and second year birds have red feathers in the crown.
The male usually has a more extensive covering of red feathers than the female.

Variation

White on especially underparts can be replaced by buffy and the white on the back have reduced size in darker forms especially found in Pacific North-West and in Central America

Similar Species

Downy Woodpecker: Hairy Woodpecker has a proportionately larger bill that is about the same length as the head.

Female of pacific type, notice that white markings are limited to the edge of the wing
Photo by digishooter
Wofford Heights, Kern Co., California, USA, November 2009

Downy Woodpecker has a much smaller, stubbier bill. Hairy Woodpecker lacks dark markings on its outer tail feathers that the Downy has. (This field mark is less useful in the Northwest where darker races of both species exist and these marks are usually present)

Distribution

Nearly universal in North America. In the east north to southern Canada, in the west north to southern Alaska.

Also found in the mountains of Mexico and Central America south to Panama.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Juvenile
Photo by digishooter
Wofford Heights, Kern Co., California, USA, July 2009

There are 14 subspecies[1]:

Habitat

Woodlands and suburbs

Behaviour

Diet

Diet includes insects, berries and acorns. Will also visit bird feeders for peanuts, suet, black oil sunflower seeds .

Breeding

Both sexes excavate a cavity in live wood. The clutch of 3 to 6 eggs are incubated by both adults. Males brood the eggs at night, and females during the day. Eggs hatch in about 14 days, and young birds leave the cavity in about a month. Young birds will accompany adults for the first two weeks or so before they become independent.

Vocalisation

Descending rattle: kekekekekekeke... A bit lower than Downy Woodpecker (but very similar).

References

  1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

Recommended Citation

External Links


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