Photos

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Male Hairy Woodpecker Photo taken by Pete Brown on January 21, 2005 in Gambrills, MD. Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ-10 at full zoom.

Male Hairy Woodpecker Photo taken by Pete Brown on January 21, 2005 in Gambrills, MD. Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ-10 at full zoom.

Male Hairy Woodpecker Photo taken by Pete Brown on January 21, 2005 in Gambrills, MD. Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ-10 at full zoom.

Downy and Hairy Comparison The Downy is the smaller woodpecker on the left, the Hairy is on the right.Photos taken by Pete Brown on January 21, 2005 in Gambrills, MD. Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ-10 at full zoom.

Birding Information

The Hairy Woodpecker is a daily visitor to our back yard. The Hairy is not as as common as the Red-Bellied, and definitely not as common as the Downy. The suet Melissa hangs on the tree, in the suet cage, and in the upside down suet feeder do a very good job of attracting these birds.

They Hairy Woodpecker is very shy, often taking flight at the slightest flinch on my part. THe only way I've been able to photograph this bird is through the glass on our rear basement door.

General Information

• Length: 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 inches 
• Wingspan 15 to 17 1/2 inches
• Family: Picidae

Identification (Male)

• White Face
• Long black bill, nearly as long as head is deep 
• White underparts
• Black wings with white spotting/barring
• Black nape and shoulders
• White face with black malar mark and wedge-shaped postocular stripe
• Black tail with three entirely white outermost feathers on each side
• Red occipital patch (back of head)

Identification (Female)

• The female is similar to the male except that it is missing the red occipital patch (back of the head).

Identification and size information from Birds of North America Eastern Region by Fred J. Alsop III, 2001 DK Publishing. I highly recommend this book as there is a lot more information than I present here.

This bird can be easily confused with the Downy woodpecker when viewed from a distance. The hairy is two to three inches larger, and has a black bill that is almost as long as the head is deep. The bill is the easiest way to tell the birds apart, as a few inches in scale can be easily lost in poor lighting or through binoculars.

Additional References

• eNature
• USCGS

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