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Hairy woodpecker

Picoides villosus

Photo by KarenL
Published on Project Noah
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35.8987, -86.9624

Field Notes

Notes:

Apologies for the terrible image quality but I was really excited to see this little guy. We get loads of red-bellies & downies but this is my first ever "hairy"!

Reference Links:

Hairy Woodpecker

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (9)
KarenL
I have the same problem, plus mine are a fair distance from the house so it's hard to get good photos. I've asked santa for a color web-cam so hopefully that will help!
HeatherMiller
Ah, I discovered the problem with this many feeders...which one to focus on. Also, a few block the view of another set, so I have to move them. Then I'll try again.
KarenL
Sounds like a very entertaining squirrel feeder! We just have a wooden shelf with a spike for corn on one of the trees but though the squirrels do eat the corn they seem to prefer the sunflower seeds! I've heard you can spray capiscum oil on the seed to deter them (the birds can't taste it) but that just seems a little unkind. I am thinking of trying it on the suet blocks though as the pesky raccoon keeps stealing the whole blocks & the feeders! I've been worming the foxes every 3 weeks through the summer since I saw one of them scooting around on her butt like dogs do when they have worms! Good luck tomorrow - I look forward to the photos! They say the early bird gets the worm!
HeatherMiller
I am up to about 10 birdfeeders in the front yard and just filled them all with either sunflower seeds or safflower and one has niger and one has a mix. I'm going to bed early so I can catch the birdies out at sunrise, I hope. Dog fod for the foxes when they need worming??? You put de-wormer in the dog food? My grandfather built a squirrel feeder that basically required at least two of them else, they'd spin off. It was basically a post with a 90degree axle pin (big nail) and a wooden circle made of plywood. It had 8 small spikes that held corn cobs. He was trying to make it so they'd stand on the post and twist it on their own, but they ended up bear-hugging the corn cob and would go spinning, unless another squirrel did the same. they chewed the wood to get to the spikes he had on the other side. It looked like a little did drawn sun for about a summer. It was kinda fun to watch them.
KarenL
I buy about 50lbs on sunflower seed, 25lbs, safflower & the same in shell free mix every month - more when the weather is bad & the feeders are more popular! Plus the nyjer seed, cracked corn, dried mealworms, suet blocks, corn cobs for the squirrel, feed & salt blocks for the deer, dog food for the foxes when they need worming - I sometimes think the critters round here fare better than we do! The feeder unfortunately isn't squirrel proof though they are so entertaining I don't really mind them eating the sunflower seed. We have several of these bulk feeders. They are meant to hang but because they are difficult to fill & very heavy when full. My husband mounted them on poles & it seems to work well. I just hose them out every few weeks to keep them clean.
HeatherMiller
That is an incredible amount of seed. My feeders were ignoring my new suet feeders, so I let the others run dry. It took the birds 3 days to finally hit up the suet feeders and about 15 minutes to finish them off, once they discovered them. Now I'm filling my feeders again.
KarenL
I think that was actually a titmouse Heather but difficult to tell because of the poor image quality - I took this at full zoom through a window then cropped it! At one point there were 3 chickadees, 2 house finches, about half a dozen goldfinches, a titmouse & the hairy all on this feeder at the same time - it's no wonder I get through 40lb of sunflower seeds every 3 weeks!
HemaShah
is there a purple and yellow finch at the feeder too? I like this feeder. I guess the squirrels cannot get at the food and the food stays free of any other contaminants. Besides you would just have to wipe the rims to keep it clean.
HeatherMiller
What a pair! Actually, it looks like a whitish one just took off on the right side of the picture. :-)

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Birds of the World
Mission
Backyard Birding Southeastern USA
Mission
Global Flight
Mission
Wildlife of Goose Creek
Photographed
PublishedDecember 12, 2011

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