Picoides Villosus
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The hairy woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus villosus'') is a medium-sized
woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...
that is found over a large area of North America. It is approximately in length with a wingspan. With an estimated population in 2020 of almost nine million individuals, the hairy woodpecker is listed by the
IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
as a species of
least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
. Some nomenclature authorities, such as the eBird/Clements checklist, place this species in the
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''
Dryobates ''Dryobates'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The species are widely distributed and occur in both Eurasia and the Americas. Taxonomy The genus ''Dryobates'' was named by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826 with t ...
''.


Taxonomy

The hairy woodpecker was described and illustrated with a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist
Mark Catesby Mark Catesby (24 March 1683 – 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the New World. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his ''Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'', the fi ...
in his ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'' which was published between 1729 and 1732. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
updated his ''
Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...
'' for the twelfth edition, he included the downy woodpecker, coined the
binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''Picus villosus'' and cited Catesby's book. The specific epithet ''villosus'' is the Latin word for "hairy". Linnaeus specified the type locality as ''America septentrionali'' (North America), with specific mention of Raccoon, New Jersey. The hairy woodpecker was formerly usually placed in either ''
Dendrocopos ''Dendrocopos'' is a widespread genus of woodpeckers from Asia, Europe and Northern Africa. The species range from the Philippines to the British Isles. Taxonomy The genus ''Dendrocopos'' was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Lud ...
'' or ''
Picoides ''Picoides'' is a genus of woodpeckers (family Picidae) that are native to Eurasia and North America, commonly known as three-toed woodpeckers. Taxonomy The genus ''Picoides'' was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépè ...
'' but a
molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study published in 2015 found that these genera did not form
monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...
groups. In the revised generic classification, the hairy woodpecker was moved to the genus ''
Leuconotopicus ''Leuconotopicus'' is a genus of woodpeckers in the family Picidae native to North and South America. Taxonomy The genus was erected by the French ornithologist Alfred Malherbe in 1845 with Strickland's woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus stricklandi'' ...
'' that was erected by the French ornithologist
Alfred Malherbe Alfred Malherbe (14 July 1804 – 14 August 1865) was a French magistrate and amateur naturalist born in Mauritius to Pierre Marie François Malherbe and Rosalie Le Meusnier Molineuf. The family originally came from Metz. Alfred became the admi ...
in 1845. Some taxonomic authorities place the hairy woodpecker in an expanded ''
Dryobates ''Dryobates'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The species are widely distributed and occur in both Eurasia and the Americas. Taxonomy The genus ''Dryobates'' was named by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826 with t ...
'' that includes all the species in the genera ''Leuconotopicus'' and ''
Veniliornis ''Veniliornis'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. They are native to Central and South America. Taxonomy The genus was introduced by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The word ''Veniliornis'' combin ...
''. Seventeen
subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are recognised: * ''L. v. septentrionalis'' (
Nuttall Nuttall may refer to: People * Nuttall (name) * Nuttall baronets Nature * Nuttall's oak, a fast-growing large deciduous oak tree native to North America * Nuttall's woodpecker, a species of woodpecker found in oak woodlands of California * Nutta ...
, 1840) – west North America from south Alaska to Ontario to New Mexico * ''L. v. picoideus'' ( Osgood, 1901) –
Queen Charlotte Island Haida Gwaii (; hai, X̱aaydag̱a Gwaay.yaay / , literally "Islands of the Haida people") is an archipelago located between off the northern Pacific coast of Canada. The islands are separated from the mainland to the east by the shallow Heca ...
(off British Columbia, Canada) * ''L. v. harrisi'' (
Audubon The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such org ...
, 1838) – southeast Alaska to north California * ''L. v. terraenovae'' ( Batchelder, 1908) – Newfoundland * ''L. v. villosus'' (
Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
, 1766) – southeast Canada, north central and northeast USA * ''L. v. orius'' ( Oberholser, 1911) – south central British Columbia to southeast California and southwest Utah * ''L. v. monticola'' (Anthony, 1898) – central British Columbia to north New Mexico * ''L. v. leucothorectis'' (Oberholser, 1911) – southeast California to west Texas * ''L. v. audubonii'' ( Swainson, 1832) – southeast USA * ''L. v. hyloscopus'' (
Cabanis Cabanis is the surname of: *George Cabanis (1815-1892), American politician *Jean Cabanis (1816–1906), German ornithologist *José Cabanis José Cabanis (2 March 1922 – 6 October 2000) was a French novelist, essayist, historian and magistrate ...
&
Heine Heine is both a surname and a given name of German origin. People with that name include: People with the surname * Albert Heine (1867–1949), German actor * Alice Heine (1858–1925), American-born princess of Monaco * Armand Heine (1818–1883) ...
, 1863) – west and south California, north
Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
(Mexico) * ''L. v. icastus'' (Oberholser, 1911) – southeast Arizona, southwest New Mexico to west Mexico * ''L. v. intermedius'' (
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
, 1900) – east Mexico * ''L. v. jardinii
Malherbe Malherbe may refer to: People * Malherbe (surname) ** François de Malherbe (1555-1628), French poet, reformer of French language Places France * La Haye-Malherbe, municipality of Eure (département), Eure * Malherbe-sur-Ajon, new municipal ...
, 1845 – south central and east central Mexico * ''L. v. sanctorum'' (Nelson, 1897) – southeast Mexico to northwest Nicaragua * ''L. v. extimus'' (
Bangs Bang or bangs may refer to: Products * M1922 Bang rifle, a US semi-automatic rifle designed by Søren Hansen Bang * Bang, a List of model car brands, model car brand * Bang (beverage), an energy drink Geography * Bang, Lorestan, a village in I ...
, 1902) – north central Costa Rica to west Panama * ''L. v. piger'' ( Allen, GM, 1905) – north Bahamas * ''L. v. maynardi'' ( Ridgway, 1887) – south Bahamas


Description

Adults are mainly black on the upper parts and wings, with a white or pale back and white spotting on the wings; the throat and belly vary from white to sooty brown, depending on subspecies. There is a white bar above and one below the eye. They have a black tail with white outer feathers. Adult males have a red patch or two side-by-side patches on the back of the head; juvenile males have red or rarely orange-red on the crown. The hairy woodpecker measures from in length, in wingspan and in weight. It is virtually identical in plumage to the smaller
downy woodpecker The downy woodpecker (''Dryobates pubescens'') is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America. Length ranges from . Downy woodpeckers primarily live in forested areas throughout the United States and Canada, with the exception of deser ...
. The downy has a shorter bill relative to the size of its head, which is, other than size and voice, the best way to distinguish them in the field. These two species are not closely related, however, and are likely to be separated in different
genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
. Another way to tell the two species apart is the lack of spots on its white tail feathers (present in the downy). Their outward similarity is a spectacular example of
convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...
. As to the reason for this convergence, only tentative hypotheses have been advanced; in any case, because of the considerable size difference,
ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
competition between the two species is slight.


Distribution and habitat

The hairy woodpecker inhabits mature
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
forests A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
in the
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
,
El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
,
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
,
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
,
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
,
Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is a vagrant to
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
and the
Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...
. Mating pairs will excavate a hole in a tree, where they will lay, on average, four white eggs. These birds are mostly permanent residents. Birds in the extreme north may migrate further south; birds in mountainous areas may move to lower elevations.


Behavior and ecology

These birds forage on trees, often turning over bark or excavating to uncover
insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s. They mainly eat insects, but also
fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
s, berries and nuts, as well as sometimes
tree sap 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawa ...
. They are a predator of the
European corn borer The European corn borer (''Ostrinia nubilalis''), also known as the European corn worm or European high-flyer, is a moth of the family Crambidae which includes other grass moths. It is a pest of grain, particularly maize (''Zea mays''). The in ...
, a moth that costs the US agriculture industry more than $1 billion annually in crop losses and population control.


Gallery

File:FemaleHairywoodpecker.jpg, Adult female, Ottawa, Ontario File:Hairy woodpecker.jpg, Stowe, Vermont File:Hairy Woodpecker RWD.jpg, Male, Palmer, Alaska File:Young Hairy Woodpecker.jpg, At a peanut feeder File:Picoides villosus CT.ogv, Feeding on
suet Suet is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb or mutton found around the loins and kidneys. Suet has a melting point of between 45 °C and 50 °C (113 °F and 122 °F) and congelation between 37 °C and 40 °C (98.6&nbs ...


See also

*
Downy woodpecker The downy woodpecker (''Dryobates pubescens'') is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America. Length ranges from . Downy woodpeckers primarily live in forested areas throughout the United States and Canada, with the exception of deser ...
- A smaller but very similar-looking species.


References


External links


Hairy woodpecker - ''Picoides villosus''
- USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter

- Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Hairy woodpecker sound
at Florida Museum of Natural History * * * {{Taxonbar, from1=Q1071828, from3=Q27074928 Leuconotopicus Birds of Central America Birds of North America Birds of Canada Articles containing video clips Birds described in 1766 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus