Hairy Woodpecker
Leuconotopicus villosus
Medium-sized woodpecker, common and widespread across North America as far south as western Panama. Black-and-white plumage is nearly identical to the smaller Downy Woodpecker. Focus on the bill: Hairy has a longer bill, about the length of the head. Also look for clean white outer tail feathers. Some variation in color across range; birds in western North America and especially Central America are brownish, with limited white in the wing. Occurs in wooded habitats with large trees. Familiar visitor to backyard feeders, especially fond of suet. Calls include a loud “peek!” and a fast rattle, stronger than Downy Woodpecker.
Identification
Adults are mainly black on the upper parts and wings, with a white or pale back and white spotting on the wings; the throat and belly vary from white to sooty brown, depending on subspecies. There is a white bar above and one below the eye. They have a black tail with white outer feathers. Adult males have a red patch or two side-by-side patches on the back of the head; juvenile males have red or rarely orange-red on the crown.<p>The hairy woodpecker measures from 18–26 cm (7.1–10.2 in) in length, 33–43 cm (13–17 in) in wingspan and 40–95 g (1.4–3.4 oz) in weight. It is virtually identical in plumage to the smaller downy woodpecker. The downy has a shorter bill relative to the size of its head, which is, other than size and voice, the best way to distinguish them in the field. These two species are not closely related, however, and are likely to be separated in different genera. Another way to tell the two species apart is the lack of spots on its white tail feathers (present in the downy). Their outward similarity is a spectacular example of convergent evolution. As to the reason for this convergence, only tentative hypotheses have been advanced; in any case, because of the considerable size difference, ecological competition between the two species is slight.
Taxonomy
The hairy woodpecker was described and illustrated with a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published between 1729 and 1732. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the downy woodpecker, coined the binomial name Picus villosus and cited Catesby's book. The specific epithet villosus is the Latin word for "hairy". Linnaeus specified the type locality as America septentrionali (North America), with specific mention of Raccoon, New Jersey. The hairy woodpecker was formerly usually placed in either Dendrocopos or Picoides but a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2015 found that these genera did not form monophyletic groups. In the revised generic classification, the hairy woodpecker was moved to the genus Leuconotopicus that was erected by the French ornithologist Alfred Malherbe in 1845. Some taxonomic authorities place the hairy woodpecker in an expanded Dryobates that includes all the species in the genera Leuconotopicus and Veniliornis.<p>Seventeen subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Leuconotopicus villosus
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1766)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Leuconotopicus
Range and habitat
The hairy woodpecker inhabits mature deciduous forests in the Bahamas, Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States. It is a vagrant to Puerto Rico and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Mating pairs will excavate a hole in a tree, where they will lay, on average, four white eggs.<p>These birds are mostly permanent residents. Birds in the extreme north may migrate further south; birds in mountainous areas may move to lower elevations.
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Behavior
Migration pattern: Vertical migration.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Striking, long-tailed and long-winged harrier. Glides with wings held in a raised v-shape. Males have a white belly and a dark gray back, head and throat, while the larger females have a brown back and head. Also occurs as a rarer dark morph, which has an all-dark body and underwings. Juveniles are similar to females but heavily streaked on the breast. Found in open country including marshes, grasslands, and rice fields.
Purple-tailed Imperial-Pigeon
Ducula rufigaster
A fairly large pigeon of lowland and foothill rainforest interior. Pale pinkish head, orange underparts, metallic emerald green wings and back, and a purple rump. It is usually solitary, difficult to see and does not usually fly above the canopy. Similar to Rufescent Imperial Pigeon, but Purple-tailed is found at lower elevations and has an obvious pale gray tail band. Call, two introductory “tuk-tuk” notes followed by a long, rather out of tune, rising then falling “ooo-woo-ooo”
Hume's Treecreeper
Certhia manipurensis
Physically almost identical to Sikkim Treecreeper, but throat pale tan-orange instead gray. Bright contrasting rusty tail distinguishes it from other treecreepers in its range. A species of foothill to montane and submontane regions; averages lower in elevational range than Sikkim Treecreeper, with minimal to no range overlap. Favors broadleaf evergreen and mixed forests. Occasionally found in mixed-species flocks. Song is slower than that of Sikkim Treecreeper, a rather slow ringing trill composed of paired notes; calls include an echoing two-note “tsijew” and a high “tzit.”
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