Photo by BarrytheBirder
Hairy Woodpecker
Picoides villosus
On Tuesday, I strolled along the Oak Ridges Trail (or Green Lane as we used to call it) between King's 6th and 7th Concessions. There were no wildflowers yet and the only birds I spotted were the female Hairy Woodpecker pictured above and a pair of Northern Flickers. Hairy Woodpeckers are usually shier than Downy Woodpeckers but this lady let me get close enough for a picture. She even accompanied me for a hundred metres or so along the trail. Hairy Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers are our only woodpeckers with white backs. It makes them readily identifiable. Downy Woodpeckers are our smallest woodpeckers (15-18cm) and the Hairy is a little larger (19-24cm). Red-headed Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Three-toed Woodpeckers, Black-bellied Woodpeckers and Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are all slightly larger than the Hairy, while the Northern Flicker is quite a bit larger at (28-32cm). Rounding out the list is the very large Pileated Woodpecker at (42-49cm). All nine of the woodpeckers species mentioned here breed in Ontario.
Please comment if you wish.
BtheB
1 comment:
Great capture Barry.
Post a Comment