Bird Spotlight-Hairy Woodpecker
Volume 4 In a Series
These interesting birds are frequent visitors to my feeders. They normally can be found eating suet cakes. Sometimes they will sneak sunflower seeds. Most likely you will see them on your suet feeder or maneuvering around your backyard trees. In the wild, most of their diet consists of insects.
The Hairy Woodpecker is almost identical in appearance to the Downy Woodpecker. The main differences are the size of the bird and the size of the beak. They are larger and have a longer beak as compared to the Downy Woodpecker. The male has a red spot on the back of his head, and the female does not.
These birds can be found throughout the United States and Canada year-round. If you have a dead or dying tree in your yard, you may get them to nest there. They excavate their nests in a dead tree, and the nest is empty except for a few wood chips on the bottom to protect the eggs.
Interesting Facts
These birds will sometimes investigate huge cavities created by Pileated Woodpeckers once they have moved on, finding insects that the larger woodpeckers missed.
The oldest recorded Hairy Woodpecker was almost 16 years old when re-captured and re-released in New York.
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