Illustration from Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia/Corbis
Harris's Woodpecker
Picoides villosus harrisi
Subspecies of Hairy Woodpecker
April 5, 1806, above the mouth of the Willamette River, Multnomah County, Oregon.
A robin-size woodpecker. Black and white, with unspotted white back and long bill; male has red head patch. Like most woodpeckers it has an undulating flight. Length: 9 in (23 cm).
A sharp, distinctive peek, louder than that of the downy woodpecker; also a loud rattle on one pitch.
Deciduous forest; more widespread in winter and during migration.
Resident from Alaska and across Canada south throughout United States to Gulf of Mexico. Some northern birds migrate south for winter.
Both this bird and the Cabanis's woodpecker are better known today as "hairy woodpecker"—other names are more obsolete.
