Dryobates villosus
Order Piciformes
Family Picidae
Subfamily Picinae
Adult.— Similar to the Downy Woodpecker, but larger, the outer tail-feathers pure white, not barred with black.
Nest, in a hole in a tree.
Eggs, white.
The Hairy Woodpecker is a permanent resident of New England and New York, but is much rarer than the Downy in more cultivated districts. Where there is considerable woodland, especially good-sized timber, it is fairly common. In the breeding season it is rarely seen out of the woods, but in fall and winter it wanders about, and not infrequently comes to suet or bones hung out in village yards.
The chink of the Hairy is like that of the Downy, but to a trained ear it sounds heavier and wilder. Its rattling call lacks the downward run so characteristic of the Downy and suggests the rattle of a Kingfisher.
If one is in doubt about a woodpecker, the bird is probably the Downy rather than the Hairy, for when the larger bird is seen its size attracts notice at once; it is nearly as large as a Robin, and its bill looks long and heavy. The outer tail-feathers are pure white, not barred with black as in the Downy; but this difference is of little help, unless the bird is seen near at hand, and with outspread tail.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)