Species: Picoides villosus

Hairy Woodpecker

Species

Show on Lists

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

A medium-sized woodpecker with (in most areas) a white back, white-spotted black wings (spotting is reduced in Rocky Mountains), a relatively large bill, white underparts, and a black head with two large white bars on each side; tail is black centrally, white on the sides; plumage that is white in most of the range is pale gray-brown in the Pacific Northwest; adult males have a red bar across the back of the head, young males have an orange- or red-streaked crown; juveniles (particularly in Maritime Provinces) have some dark barring on the bank and flanks; average length 24 cm (NGS 1983).

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Piciformes

Family

Picidae

Genus

Picoides

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104568

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Carpintero Velloso-Mayor - pic chevelu

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Other Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Piciformes - Picidae - Picoides

Ecology and Life History

Migration

true - true - false - Northernmost breeding populations partially migratory. May migrate between higher and lower elevations in mountainous regions.

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Eats mainly insects (beetles, ants, caterpillars), especially boring larvae, obtained from bark or wood of trunks and branches of trees or from soft shrubs or old giant thistle stalks; also eats other invertebrates and some fruits and nuts (Terres 1980). May concentrate feeding in areas of insect outbreaks. Sometimes feeds on sap from wells drilled in trees by sapsuckers. Seeds may be important food in winter. Uses various foraging substrates, ranging from dead and live trees to downed wood and ground; see Sousa (1987) for details.

Reproduction Comments

Nests early April to mid-June in Maryland (see Bushman and Therres 1988). Clutch size is 3-6 (usually 4). Incubation lasts 11-12 days, by both sexes. Young leave nest at 28-30 days, then rely on parents for about 2 more weeks, may return to nest to roost.

Ecology Comments

Female spends entire year on breeding territory, joined in late winter by male (Harrison 1979). Reported territory size 0.6-15 hectares; varies with habitat quality. In central Ontario, breeding territories averaged 2.8 hectares, range 2.4 to 3.2 hectares (Lawrence 1967).

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

1996-12-02

Global Status Last Changed

1996-12-02

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - BREEDS: western and central Alaska to northern Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, south to northern Baja California, highlands of Middle America, Gulf Coast, southern Florida, and Bahamas. WINTERS: generally throughout breeding range, with more northern populations partially migratory.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104568