---
title: "All About Birds: Hairy Woodpecker"
---

[![cornell lab](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-292886470.png?width=527&height=99&name=file-292886470.png "cornell lab")](http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478)

## Hairy Woodpecker 

## ![Hairy_WoodpeckerMale_Joe_Martin_NY_2012](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-273752260.jpg)

 © Joe Martin

| ![what_they_eat](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-219239072.jpg?width=106&height=182&name=file-219239072.jpg) | **What they eat:** These birds eat mostly insects, but to attract them to your yard, try suet, peanuts, and black oil sunflowers in suet cage, large hopper, or platform feeders. |
| --- | --- |
| ![how_they_sound](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-218885748.jpg?width=194&height=182&name=file-218885748.jpg "how_they_sound") | **Where they live: **Hairy Woodpeckers are common in woodlands, suburbs, and parks. They range across most of the U.S, much of Canada and into southeast Alaska, and some mountainous areas in Mexico. |
| **![where_they_live](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-219130301.jpg?width=93&height=79&name=file-219130301.jpg "where_they_live")** | **Did you know? **Hairy Woodpeckers sometimes drink sap leaking from wells in bark. |
| **![did_you_know](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-218887603.jpg?width=118&height=87&name=file-218887603.jpg)** | **How they sound:** ****The most common call of the Hairy Woodpecker is a short, sharp peeknote, but they are also well known for the sounds they make as they drum against wood or metal. |

 

**![sound](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-230263965.jpg?width=20&height=16&name=file-230263965.jpg) [Listen to the Hairy Woodpecker](https://dl.allaboutbirds.org/hs-fs/hub/95627/file-292523135.mp3?hsLang=es). **

** **

**To learn more, visit the Cornell Lab's free website: [www.allaboutbirds.org](http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/id).**

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