Downy & Hairy Woodpeckers

Melissa and I have had a male Hairy Woodpecker and a female Downy Woodpecker visiting our bird feeders regularly this week.  It’s neat to see the dramatic size difference between the two birds when they happen to be present at the same time.  The Downy Woodpecker is our smallest woodpecker, measuring barely larger than a Carolina Wren.  Hairy Woodpeckers are nearly the size of a Blue Jay.  Overall size can be deceptive when you don’t have the birds side-by-side, so also take note of how much longer the Hairy Woodpecker’s bill is relative to the size of its head.  The large bill gives them a “big-nosed” appearance.

These two look alike birds were named for the texture of the white feathers that grow on their backs between their wings.  They were named all the way back in the 18th century by Carl Linnaeus, a biologist from Sweden who is often called the father of modern taxonomy.  Linnaeus designed the initial structure of the system we use to classify and name all organisms, from bacteria to pine trees to Downy Woodpeckers.  Interestingly, Linnaeus named Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers without ever seeing one.  The names are based on written descriptions provided by an American biologist.

Both of these woodpeckers visit feeders in the Susquehanna Valley at any time of year.  Like other woodpeckers, their favorite foods are suet, suet balls, Bark Butter and Bark Butter Bits, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and mealworms.  Watch for them and Pennsylvania’s other five woodpecker species: Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Nothern Flicker, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.