 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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1.97 (0.779 - 3.17)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Atlas results coming soon
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
The Hairy Woodpecker is a larger version of the Downy Woodpecker with similar plumage, behaviour, and diet. The proportionately longer bill distinguishes it from its smaller cousin. This species is a generalist in its food and habitat requirements and its strong bill makes it a good excavator frequently feeding on wood-boring beetles deep under the bark. The species is a permanent resident from central Alaska, south-central Northwest Territories, northern Ontario, and central Labrador south through the US and the mountains of Central America to Panama, and also in the Bahamas.
Hairy Woodpeckers nest in all types of deciduous and mixedwood forests. As the Hairy Woodpecker is a larger bird requiring more extensive stands of larger trees, its occurrence in southern Saskatchewan is more limited than that of the Downy Woodpecker.
The Hairy Woodpecker is a fairly common permanent resident in the parklands and boreal forests and uncommon in the subarctic region. It is a rare and local permanent resident over northern portions of the grasslands, being found over the rest of the region only as a transient or rare winter visitor (Smith 1996).
Original text by Karen Wiebe. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Hairy Woodpecker in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Hairy Woodpecker in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=HAWO&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
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