Hairy Woodpecker Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesHairy Woodpecker
Male (Eastern)
A medium-sized woodpecker with a long bill. Male has red on the back of the head. "Eastern" Hairy Woodpecker has extensive white spotting on the wings.
© Matthew Plante / Macaulay LibraryOhio, February 01, 2021Female (Rocky Mts.)
Medium-sized woodpecker with a white patch down its back. Female lacks male's red on the head. "Rocky Mts." Hairy Woodpecker, found across much of the western U.S. (and into British Columbia), has mostly black wings.
© Mason Maron / Macaulay LibraryWashington, October 06, 2019Adult male at nest
Hollows out a nest in a live or dead tree. Both males and females feed young soft-bodied insects.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryNew York, May 01, 2004Not all videos have sound
Female (Eastern)
Typically hitches up tree trunks or along large branches, leaning back against stiff tail feathers and springing upward with both feet at once.
© Dominique Genna / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, February 22, 2014Male (Pacific)
"Pacific" Hairy Woodpecker is darker than "Rocky Mts." and "Eastern" groups, with light brownish underparts and mostly black wings.
© Anthony Gliozzo / Macaulay LibraryWashington, February 17, 2020Juvenile (Pacific)
Juvenile male (in all subspecies groups) has a red crown patch.
© John F. Gatchet / Macaulay LibraryWashington, July 16, 2017Adult (Costa Rican)
"Costa Rican" Hairy Woodpecker from the highlands of eastern Costa Rica and western Panama has cinnamon underparts.
© Carlos Bolaños / Macaulay LibrarySan José, December 28, 2019Female (Eastern)
In flight, "Eastern" Hairy Woodpecker has extensive white spotting on the black upperwings.
© Serg Tremblay / Macaulay LibraryQuebec, December 30, 2020Male (Eastern) (with Downy Woodpecker)
Hairy Woodpecker is larger than Downy Woodpecker, with a proportionally longer bill and unmarked white outer tail feathers.
© Pat Schiller / Macaulay LibraryOntario, October 23, 2020Habitat
Found in in woodlots, suburbs, parks, and cemeteries, as well as forest edges, open pine-oak woodlands, recently burned forests, and stands infested by bark beetles.
© Tim Lenz / Macaulay LibraryNew York, October 04, 2015Similar SpeciesDowny Woodpecker
Male (Eastern)
Downy Woodpeckers are smaller with a smaller bill than Hairy Woodpeckers. The white outer tail feathers are spotted on Downy, but unmarked on Hairy.
© Evan Lipton / Macaulay LibraryRhode Island, February 02, 2017Similar SpeciesLadder-backed Woodpecker
Male
Ladder-backed Woodpeckers have a black-and-white-barred back unlike Hairy Woodpeckers, which have a white patch down the center of the back.
© Edward Plumer / Macaulay LibraryTexas, February 20, 2016Similar SpeciesNuttall's Woodpecker
Male
Nuttall's Woodpeckers have narrow horizontal bars on the back that Hairy Woodpeckers don't have.
© David M. Bell / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, May 03, 2017Similar SpeciesAmerican Three-toed Woodpecker
Adult male
American Three-toed Woodpeckers have finely barred sides, whereas Hairy Woodpeckers have clean white sides. They also have thinner facial stripes than Hairy Woodpeckers, and male Three-toeds have a yellow, not red, crown patch.
© Andrew Spencer / Macaulay LibraryColorado, May 25, 2016Similar SpeciesYellow-bellied Sapsucker
Male
Sapsuckers have a white wing patch that Hairy Woodpeckers don't have.
© Margaret Dunson / Macaulay LibraryMichigan, May 25, 2017Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Woodpeckers(Order: Piciformes, Family: Picidae)
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