Guide to Boreal Birds
Tree-clinging Birds Overview
The Hairy Woodpecker is more a forest bird and is shyer than its smaller relative, the Downy Woodpecker. The Hairy Woodpecker is one of the most beneficial birds, helping to save both forest and fruit trees by destroying many harmful insects, such as wood-boring beetles, which it extracts from holes with its barbed tongue. Like other woodpeckers, it hammers on a dead limb as part of its courtship ceremony and to proclaim its territory.
Description
9" (23 cm). A robin-sized woodpecker. Black and white, with unspotted white back and long bill; male has red head patch. Like most woodpeckers it has an undulating flight. See Downy Woodpecker.
Voice
A sharp, distinctive peek, louder than that of Downy Woodpecker; also a loud rattle on 1 pitch.
Nesting
4 white eggs in a hole in a tree.
Habitat
Deciduous forest; more widespread in winter and during migration.
Range/Migration
Resident from Alaska and across Canada south throughout United States to Gulf of Mexico. Some northern birds migrate south for winter.