Hairy Woodpecker-Bog Ecosystem

Hairy Woodpecker

Order:  Piciformes

Family:  Picidae

Genus:  Picoides

Species:  P. villosus

General Characteristics: 

Hairy Woodpeckers have a black forehead and crown; males have a red patch on their nape, whereas females have a black nape.  A wide white supercilium with a broad black band extends through the eye to the ear coverts, then down the neck. The moustachial stripe is black, broadening on the neck. A black comma extends from the side of the neck to the upper breast. The chin and throat are white. The lower neck, sides of mantle, rump, and uppertail coverts are black. The back is almost entirely white. The upper coverts are black with large white spots. Flight feathers have white barring. The tail is centrally black with white outer tail feathers.

Special Adaptations:

Hairy Woodpeckers find their food by feeling the vibrations made by insects moving about in the wood. They also can hear the insects munch on the wood!