I have been lucky enough to view the pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) on one occasion – May 24, 2009. These birds are elusive, but it’s a fearsome thing when they “squack.” Measuring about 16 to 19 inches, they feed on carpenter ants and other insects. To find insects, they excavate large, rectangular holes in dead or decaying wood. Pileated woodpeckers have a red crest along with black-and-white stripes on their faces and their bodies. They are found in northern boreal, southern uplands, and mesic forests. They are also found in swamps and bogs, similar to the area around our family cabin.
The featured image for this blog post (the image that appears for this blog post on the Home page of this website) shows the typical large, rectangular holes created by pileated woodpeckers excavating in dead or decaying wood. The smaller woodpeckers, such as red-bellied and hairy woodpeckers, may make smaller, more rounded holes.
Look-Alikes
By Anita Carpenter
On a cold, blustery winter day, my suet feeder is a hub of activity where black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, and three woodpecker species stop for quick, energy-rich bites to eat.
We should all be familiar with chickadees and nuthatches. The perky, quick-darting, five-inch chickadees are easily identified in their black caps and chins, white faces and chests, and gray wings and backs. The blue-backed, white-chested, five-and-a-half-inch, white-breasted nuthatches are cautious in their approach to the feeder. Males sport black caps, while female caps are brown.
Of the three visiting woodpeckers, the red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinsis) is easy to identify. It’s a hefty-looking woodpecker measuring nine and a quarter inches. It is one of the ladderback woodpecker species, so named because of the horizontal, black-and-white bars on its back. It has a gray face. Males have a solid red crown and nape (back of the head), whereas females just display the red nape. This species is frequently misidentified as a red-headed woodpecker, but a red-headed woodpecker’s head is entirely red without the gray face.
If one knows what to look for, they can be fairly easy to tell apart.
The other two woodpecker species, the downy woodpecker and the hairy woodpecker, are look-alikes. At times, it may be tricky to identify who is who.
At first glance, both woodpecker species look similar, with their black wings highlighted with rows of small white patches. They each have a white stripe down the middle of their backs and no white rump. The breast is white. Both species have black crowns and similar facial patterns showing a black-and-white chevron. Males have a small red patch on the back of the head, whereas females lack the red patch.
How do the two species differ?
The downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) is the smallest of the 23 woodpecker species found in the United States. It measures six and three quarter inches. Whereas the hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus) is another robust woodpecker, measuring nine and three quarter inches. The size difference would lead one to believe that it’s easy to tell them apart. If the two species are near each other, the size difference is fairly obvious. However, if a single bird is back in the woods, peeking around a tree, one realizes that it can be challenging to identify. Also, the more one looks at hairy woodpeckers, one realizes there is a considerable size difference among individuals. Some seem so big, whereas others trend the other way.
The most important feature to separate the two look-alikes is bill length. Look at the profile or side of the bird’s head and compare the length of the bill to the width (front to back) of the head. If the bill is short and stubby and is not the same length as the width of the head, the bird is a downy woodpecker. (Remember: small bill, small bird.) If the bird has a long, stout bill that is the same length as the width of the head, you are looking at a hairy woodpecker. (Likewise: big bill, big bird.) However, getting a bird to pose for a better viewing angle is sometimes a challenge!
Another useful clue for identification is to listen to the bird’s call note. Downies utter a soft “pik,” which is higher pitched, whereas “hairies” utter a loud, sharp “peek” note. This may take some time and patience as you hone your hearing skills. Of course, there is always the Merlin app.
Interestingly, although these two woodpeckers resemble each other, they are not closely related. The downy is more closely related to the ladder-back woodpecker (Picoides scalaris) that is found in Texas and the southwest. The closest taxonomic relative to the hairy woodpecker is the Arizona woodpecker (Picoides arizonae) that is found in extreme southern Arizona and Mexico.
Downy woodpeckers are more common than hairy woodpeckers in Wisconsin. It is always a special treat to see a hairy woodpecker especially at my suet feeder. For as many years as I’ve been bird-watching, there are still times when I need to measure bill length to verify which of the two look-alike birds I am seeing. So, don’t despair.
Happy watching!
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