A hairy woodpecker is one of the friendliest birds to come in to your feeder. He doesn’t have a loud squawk like a blue jay, he doesn’t empty feeders like a starling will and he doesn’t scold you for a feeder being empty like a chickadee will. A hairy woodpecker will fly in to your suet feeders, announce his presence with one chirp, then take bites or pieces from the suet cake, and fly away any time during the year. Attracting this polite bird to your yard is fairly easy.
Feeding Hairy Woodpeckers
Hairy woodpeckers are attracted to suet cakes in feeders. You can buy pre-made suet cakes or purchase suet from the butcher and make your own recipe with fruit or seeds to hang out in the yard. The suet needs a high fat content and should be treated to your specific weather conditions. For example, if you live in very warm areas, the suet will rot in the sun after a few days if you buy the fresh kind. If you live in the north, packaged suet can freeze and not be edible for the birds. Read the instructions on suet packages before you purchase it.
Hairy woodpeckers can eat while hanging upside down, sideways and from a regular position from a suet feeder. Hanging the feeder so the suet is only accessible from an upside down position will keep non-clinging birds like starlings, cowbirds and grackles from eating it all. It is also entertaining to watch the birds move in to position to eat.
Hairy woodpeckers also devour piles of bugs from your yard during the spring and summer months. If you see them fly about the yard in an erratic pattern, it is probably after a bug. They also cling to the sides of trees and pull ants and other bugs from the tree bark. Occasionally, they will eat plain seed, but only if other food sources are lacking in the area.
Mating and Marking
The hairy woodpecker lives all across the United States and in to southern and western Canada year-round. The male hairy will mark his territory each spring by drumming on hollow trees or logs. His drumming and size of territory is what attracts a female.
The pair mate and later in the spring, they will make a small cavity in a tree for nesting. The female will lay between 3 and 6 white eggs. The pair will share incubation duty for 11 to 15 days until the eggs crack. Babies will be feed by both parents until they leave the nest 28 to 30 days later.
Physical Traits
The male hairy is black and white striped on its wings, head and back. It has a small red spot at the back of the head. The female looks the same, except she lacks the red spot on her head. (The hairy woodpeckers are larger than the downy woodpeckers, which are also black and white striped with red spots.) The hairys have flexible legs, which allow them to cling to the bark of trees, and move around tree trunks and up and down wood siding. A hairy is between 8 and 9 1/1” inches tall, from its head to the tip of its tail.
Hairy woodpeckers will be one of the first visitors to your yard if you hang suet and live near trees. Once you keep feeding them, they will be year-round visitors and bring their offspring, too. Their presence will eliminate bugs, entertain you and provide a nature show for anyone watching.
Tina Musial - I love to feed and watch the birds. I also enjoy reading, camping, playing outdoors, watching my kids play sports, painting and decorating ...
