Listen to Red-bellied woodpecker on bird-sounds.net - a comprehensive collection of North American bird songs and bird calls. With an estimated population in 2003 of over nine million individuals, the hairy woodpecker is listed by the IUCN as a species of least concern. Hairy Woodpecker Juvenile Slide shows a male Hairy Woodpecker nestling, juvenile and adult, discusses fledging/etc.

Hairy Woodpecker. If you're interested in more hairy woodpecker facts, then look no further.

Hairy Woodpeckers vary a great deal over their broad range. The hairy looks like a super-sized version of a downy woodpecker, but the best way to tell these two similar species apart is to compare the length of the bill to the length (front-to-back) of the head. I was particularly interested to check for geographic variation in drumming sounds of these two species. Listen to Hairy woodpecker on bird-sounds.net - a comprehensive collection of North American bird songs and bird calls.

They often occur together, but the Hairy, a larger bird, requires larger trees; it is usually less common, especially in the east, and less likely to show up in suburbs and city parks. Juveniles may […]

Example of Hairy Woodpecker drumming, from Arizona

East of the Rockies they are white below with extensively spotted wings while western birds have much less spotting in the wings and narrower facial stripes. Males of both species have a red patch on the back of the head. Other Sounds 0:00 / Red-bellied woodpecker (drumming) call, drumming. The hairy woodpecker is commonly seen, not only in the wilderness but also in our backyards. Polytypic. Regional Differences. Red-Headed Woodpecker

Widespread and familiar woodland resident and backyard visitor.

This species and the Downy Woodpecker are remarkably similar in pattern, differing mainly in size and bill shape.

Hairy woodpecker.

Both commonly visit feeder areas where they feed on suet and sometimes seeds. Hairy woodpecker call and sounds A hairy woodpecker has a short, sharp call which sounds more like, “Peek!” Its song can be described as whiney, but with a more constant pitch, unlike the very similar downy woodpecker’s song which descends in pitch. Hairy Woodpecker drum recorded at the Beaver Ponds in Rocky Mountain National Park. This call is also similar to the Downy Woodpecker but does not descend in pitch at the end.

Hairy Woodpeckers also make a rattle or whinny. Note that Western Chorus Frogs, a Green-tailed Towhee and the buzz of a hummingbird flying by can also be heard in the background. Also, the male Hairy’s red patch is often split in two, while the Downy’s is not.

Species of Woodpeckers in Pennsylvania.
It can be difficult for people beginning to ID these two species, unless seen together. This species and the Downy Woodpecker are remarkably similar in pattern, differing mainly in size and bill shape. Northern birds tend to be larger than southern. The hairy woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) is a medium-sized woodpecker that is found over a large area of North America. The drum of Hairy Woodpecker is extremely fast and buzzing, with at least 25 taps per second, but has long pauses of 20 seconds or more between drums. Hairy woodpeckers stand about 9.25 inches long and are similar in size to a robin, while downy woodpeckers only measure about 6.5 inches long, similar in size to a house sparrow. Lastly, it’s important to note that the Downy Woodpecker is much more abundant than its Hairy counterpart, especially in suburbia. flight call.

Readily visits feeders, especially suet.

Its black-and-white plumage is nearly identical to the smaller Downy Woodpecker, but note longer bill (about the length of the head) and clean white outer tail feathers.

These woodpeckers are the only common woodpeckers that show a vertical white stripe on the back.