Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, Pileated: Telling Your Woodpeckers Apart

Woodpeckers Are Easier Than You Think

Woodpeckers rank among the most satisfying birds to identify because they are large, loud, boldly patterned, and they tend to stay in one spot while they work. Unlike warblers that flit through canopy for three seconds, a woodpecker hitching up a tree trunk gives you time to study field marks, check your guide, and even grab your phone for a photo.

Most backyards in North America host two to four woodpecker species regularly. Here is how to tell them apart.

Size Is Your First Clue

The Downy vs Hairy Challenge

This is the identification pair that trips up nearly every beginner. Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are near-identical in plumage — both are black and white with a white back stripe, and males of both species have a red patch on the back of the head. The differences are subtle but reliable:

Other Differences

• Size: Hairy is about 50% larger, but judging size is hard on a lone bird. If both are present, the difference is obvious.
• Outer tail feathers: Downy has black spots on white outer tail feathers. Hairy's outer tail feathers are clean white. This requires a close look or a good photo.
• Call: Downy gives a soft, descending whinny. Hairy gives a sharp, explosive peek! call that is louder and more emphatic.
• Habitat overlap: Both visit feeders, but Downy is more common in suburbs and small woodlots. Hairy prefers larger forests and mature trees.

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Despite its name, the red belly is nearly invisible in the field — a faint pinkish wash on the lower belly that you almost never see. The name is misleading. What you actually notice is the striking red cap (full crown on males, just the nape on females) and the bold black-and-white barred pattern on the back. The Red-bellied is the noisiest of the common woodpeckers, giving loud, rolling calls that carry through the neighborhood.

Northern Flicker

The oddball of the woodpecker family. Flickers spend more time on the ground than in trees, probing lawns and dirt for ants — their primary food. They are brown and spotted (unusual for woodpeckers), with a bold black bib, spotted breast, and a conspicuous white rump patch visible in flight. Eastern birds have yellow under their wings and tail (Yellow-shafted). Western birds have red (Red-shafted). Where ranges overlap, hybrids with mixed colors are common.

Pileated Woodpecker

You do not mistake a Pileated Woodpecker for anything else. Nearly crow-sized, mostly black, with a flaming red crest and bold white stripes on the face and neck, it looks like a bird from another era — because it is the closest living relative of the almost certainly extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Its excavations leave rectangular holes in dead trees (other woodpeckers make round holes), and its loud, wild laughing call echoes through mature forest.

Attracting Woodpeckers to Your Yard

• Suet feeders: The number one woodpecker attractant. Use plain suet cakes or suet with embedded peanuts.
• Dead trees: Leave standing dead trees (snags) whenever safe. Woodpeckers need them for foraging and nesting.
• Peanut feeders: Wire mesh feeders filled with unsalted peanuts attract Red-bellied, Downy, and Hairy Woodpeckers.
• Avoid pesticides: Woodpeckers eat wood-boring insects. Pesticides reduce their food supply.

Test your woodpecker identification skills with our Bird Identifier Quiz, and see when different woodpecker species are most active in your area with the Migration Tracker.