What about Woodpeckers?

Woodpeckers like to peck wood, typically dead or dying trees since these house insects and larvae. And some will come to your feeder for suet, especially Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. By the way, these two look almost identical in markings—black above and white beneath, the males sporting a red patch on their heads. The Hairy, however, is about two inches longer and has a longer beak. Not only do these two species look alike, they also sound somewhat similar. (Photo of female Hairy Woodpecker courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)

A couple days ago, I had family visiting. My niece Kathryn Mary and I were sitting at an outside table when we heard a series of sharp, ringing notes coming from atop a tall hemlock. These singular notes were followed by a kind of lyrical stammer—my description, though not too helpful. I suspected a woodpecker but didn’t know which one.

We quickly sought online audio help to identify the woodpecker. As always, my most trusted resource was Cornell Lab’s web site, All About Birds. There we listened to several woodpeckers, recognizing at once the singular notes (called peek notes by Cornell) of the Hairy Woodpecker. These peek notes were then followed, as described by Cornell, by a rattle.

Applying these descriptive words—peek and rattle—to the sounds we heard helps me immensely when trying to distinguish the Hairy from the Downy Woodpecker. (For example, Cornell describes the Downy’s comparable sounds as pik and whinny.) Since my ear “memory” is not as good as some (Kathryn, for one), when I next hear a woodpecker’s call, I’ll ask myself, is that a peek or a pik . . . or something else entirely? Ha!


Till next time . . . happy birding!

Georgia Anne