Hairy Woodpecker

Dryobates villosus

OrderPiciformes

FamilyPicidae

HabitatMature forest, including high-elevation pine and fir

SeasonYear-round resident in the Guadalupe Mountains and East Texas

LocationThe Bowl, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Texas, Culberson County, Texas

Size7-10 inches

DietWood-boring beetle larvae, ants, sap, nuts, and seeds

ConservationLeast Concern (IUCN)

CameraNikon Z9Lens800mmAperturef/8Shutter1/1250ISO500

Hairy Woodpecker working the pines at The Bowl.

About the Hairy Woodpecker

The Hairy Woodpecker looks like a Downy Woodpecker that has been enlarged, and telling the two apart is a classic birding challenge. The easiest clue is the bill: on a Hairy it is nearly as long as the head, while a Downy has a short, stubby bill.

Hairy Woodpeckers dig deeper into wood than Downies and depend on mature trees. They follow bark beetle outbreaks and often visit sapsucker wells to drink sap. Across much of Texas they are surprisingly scarce, which makes the mountain populations special.

These photographs come from The Bowl, the high conifer forest in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, on August 27, 2023. Birds there belong to a darker interior subspecies with less white on the wings.

Want to see a Hairy Woodpecker in the wild?
Join one of my guided birding tours! Fine art prints of my photos are also available.

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