Hairy Woodpecker: Birds of the Week

This morning, while out walking my dogs, I saw this Hairy Woodpecker, Leuconotopicus villosus. These birds look very similar to Downy Woodpeckers, Dryobates pubescens. It can be difficult to ID them.

How can you tell them apart? The first thing I noticed was the size. Hairy Woodpeckers are robin-sized and Downy Woodpeckers are closer to a sparrow in size. What else can you look for? The outer white tail feathers are all white in Hairys and have black spots on the Downys. I couldn’t see that detail in my photos, but I could clearly see another characteristic. The bill length.

The Audubon website describes the differences in their bills like this…

The Downy’s bill is dainty and about one-third the length of the bird’s head. The Hairy’s bill is a railroad spike in comparison, and almost as long as its head.

I’m also including a short video of the Hairy Woodpecker on a ponderosa pine at Pine Nursery Park in Bend, Oregon. The fencing you see behind the bird encloses several of this park’s 24 pickleball courts.

I took more photos of the woodpecker, but they turned out blurry. Walking one dog that moves like a tortoise while walking another that moves like a hare can make taking clear pictures a challenge. 😉

Birds of the Week

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