BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Leuconotopicus villosus
Hairy Woodpecker
| Scientific Name: | Leuconotopicus villosus (Linnaeus, 1766) | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Dryobates villosus
Picoides villosus |
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| English Name: | Hairy Woodpecker | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy Comments: | Dec. 2025: Genus changed from Dryobates to Leuconotopicus to align with Avilist taxonomy. June 2018: The woodpecker genus Picoides has been split resulting in the change in genus from Picoides to Dryobates for this species. This is based on the 59th supplement to the American Ornithological Society?s Check-list of North American Birds. Chesser, R. T., K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, A. W. Kratter, I. J. Lovette, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, B. M. Winger, and K. Winker. 2018. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. http://checklist.aou.org/taxa |
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| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-HAWO | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | A medium-sized woodpecker with (in most areas) a white back, white-spotted black wings (spotting is reduced in Rocky Mountains), a relatively large bill, white underparts, and a black head with two large white bars on each side; tail is black centrally, white on the sides; plumage that is white in most of the range is pale gray-brown in the Pacific Northwest; adult males have a red bar across the back of the head, young males have an orange- or red-streaked crown; juveniles (particularly in Maritime Provinces) have some dark barring on the bank and flanks; average length 24 cm (NGS 1983). | ||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Nests early April to mid-June in Maryland (see Bushman and Therres 1988). Clutch size is 3-6 (usually 4). Incubation lasts 11-12 days, by both sexes. Young leave nest at 28-30 days, then rely on parents for about 2 more weeks, may return to nest to roost. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Female spends entire year on breeding territory, joined in late winter by male (Harrison 1979). Reported territory size 0.6-15 hectares; varies with habitat quality. In central Ontario, breeding territories averaged 2.8 hectares, range 2.4 to 3.2 hectares (Lawrence 1967). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Northernmost breeding populations partially migratory. May migrate between higher and lower elevations in mountainous regions. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: |
Forest, open woodland, swamps, well-wooded towns and parks, open situations with scattered trees. Most abundant in mature woods with large old trees suitable for cavity nesting; also common in medium-aged forests; prefers woods with a dense canopy (Bushman and Therres 1988). Uses tree cavities for roosting and winter cover; may excavate new cavities in fall to be used for roosting (Sousa 1987). Sleeps singly in holes usually carved by males (Stiles and Skutch 1989). In the eastern U.S., uses forest areas of 2-4 ha or larger, though a much larger area (maybe 12 ha) may be needed to support a viable breeding population; in Iowa the minimum width of riparian forest necessary to support a breeding population was 40 m (Sousa 1987). Overall, appears to be minimally impacted by forest fragmentation, though a few studies have reported a decline in numbers as forest patch size decreases; the presence of suitable cavity trees is a more important consideration (see Bushman and Therres 1988). Nests in hole dug mostly by male in live or dead tree or stub, 1.5-18 m (average 9 m) above ground. In most areas, favors dead or dying parts of live trees, especially where fungal heart rot has softened the heartwood. Snag (25 cm or more in DBH) density of 5/ha assumed optimal for reproduction (but may not be adequate for foraging) (Sousa 1987). Nest tree DBH minimally 20 cm; averaged 27-28 cm in New England, 38 cm in Colorado, 41 cm in Virginia, 44 cm in California, and 92 cm in Oregon (Sousa 1987). See Sousa (1987) for fairly detailed summary of nesting habitat characteristics in different regions. Usually excavates new nest hole each year. May nest in utility pole or bird box. |
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| Food Habits: |
Granivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Eats mainly insects (beetles, ants, caterpillars), especially boring larvae, obtained from bark or wood of trunks and branches of trees or from soft shrubs or old giant thistle stalks; also eats other invertebrates and some fruits and nuts (Terres 1980). May concentrate feeding in areas of insect outbreaks. Sometimes feeds on sap from wells drilled in trees by sapsuckers. Seeds may be important food in winter. Uses various foraging substrates, ranging from dead and live trees to downed wood and ground; see Sousa (1987) for details. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 24/ / 70 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDS: western and central Alaska to northern Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, south to northern Baja California, highlands of Middle America, Gulf Coast, southern Florida, and Bahamas. WINTERS: generally throughout breeding range, with more northern populations partially migratory. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | HAMMERSON, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Apr 06, 1995 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Bent, A.C. 1939d. Life histories of North American woodpeckers, U.S. Nat'l. Mus. Bull. 174. Washington, D.C. |
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Bushman, E. S., and G. D. Therres. 1988. Habitat management guidelines for forest interior breeding birds of coastal Maryland. Maryland Dept. Natural Resources, Wildlife Tech. Publ. 88-1. 50 pp. |
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Campbell, R.W., et al. 1988. Species Notes for Selected Birds, Vol. 2 in A.P. Harcombe, tech. ed. 1988. B.C. Minist. Environ., Lands and Parks, Wildl. Branch. Rep. R-16. 131pp. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC. |
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Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1992. Birds in Jeopardy: the Imperiled and Extinct Birds of the United States and Canada, Including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 259 pp. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp. |
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Kilham, L. 1983. Life history studies of woodpeckers of eastern North America. Nuttall Ornithol. Club Pub. No. 20. vii + 240 pp. |
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Lawrence, L. deK. 1967. A comparative life-history study of four species of woodpeckers. Ornithological Monographs No. 5. 156 pages. |
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Mitchell, W. A. 1988. Songbird nest boxes. Section 5.1.8, US Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual. Tech. Rep. EL-88-19. Waterways Expt. Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. 48 pp. |
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National Geographic Society (NGS). 1983. Field guide to the birds of North America. National Geographic Society, Washington, DC. |
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Short, L. L. 1982. Woodpeckers of the World. Museum of Natural History [Greenville, Delaware], Monograph Series xviii + 676 pp. |
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Sousa, P. J. 1987. Habitat suitability index models: hairy woodpecker. U. S. Fish Wildl. Serv. Biol. Rep. 82(10.146). 19 pp. |
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Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1995. Species Summary: Leuconotopicus villosus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Oct 22, 2026).