Hairy Woodpecker

(Picoides villosus: Picidae)

Description: Hairy woodpeckers are medium sized (about 24cm) and are very close in appearance to Downy Woodpeckers. They are colored with a white back and underbelly, a black and white head, black wings with white bars, and the males are distinguishable by a red patch on the back of the head. Juveniles lack the wing barring and have a white spotted forehead. Their vocalizations are described as being loud high-pitched peeks followed by a slurred whinney. Like their call, their drumming is loud; it can be distinguished as a rapid burst of rhythmic taps slowing down before termination.

Geographical Range: These Woodpeckers are found over most of North America and also in high forests of Central America. Therefore they breed from southern Alaska to Newfoundland and south to Panama. Quite often the birds winter at their breeding locations.

Habitat Requirements: The birds are habitat generalists and prefer to forage in mature coniferous forests and deciduous mixed forests. In winter months they also visit marshes, meadows, ponds, and logged or burned areas to find food. The birds extract insects from the subcambium layer utilizing sub-surface foraging techniques to capture the insects that are their primary food source. For reproductive purposes, the birds prefer mixed forests or forest edges where they excavate nest hollows in both living and dead deciduous trees.

Distribution on Hope Property: Hairy woodpeckers have been observed to be widely distributed across the Hope College biological preserve. Their presence has been noted both visually and audibly during observation of the birds.

Status on the Preserve: In the census done on 14 April 2001 five individuals were either seen or heard. We were unable to locate any nests, see them in mating pairs, or observe mating behavior. However, they use cavities as nests and therefore they could have been easily looked over.

Most Important Threats: Hairy woodpeckers have become rare and are decreasing in numbers in Florida and Georgia, while remaining stable or increasing across the rest of the U.S. In those regions the woodpecker is only found in mature pine forests and prefer recently burned areas. The suppression of fire by humans has thus been suspected as the reason for their decline.

Literature Cited:

http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/nsbirds/bns0232.htm

http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/hwood.htm

http://birds.cornell.edu/BOW/HAWP/

http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/tsucan/fire_effects.html

Contributors: Spencer Bacon, Anna Kievit, Gregory Town.