EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Funny Name For A Bird

Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides [Leuconotopicus] villosus), Family Picidae
Cucumber Gulch Preserve, Colorado, USA

Explanation:  Yes, verified, this is a Hairy Woodpecker, perched on a broken-top dead tree (a "snag") in the high country of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA.

A "hairy" woodpecker?  Can birds be "hairy?"  

In actuality ... no.  And yes.  

Yes, in that hair and feathers likely originally evolved from scales in a common reptilian ancestor.  In this way, hair and feathers are said to be homologous, having a common evolutionary origin but do not necessarily perform the same function.  

No, in that feathers are branching structures of the protein beta-keratin (also found in reptiles) and that grow from papillae, whereas hair is made of alpha keratin and that grow from follicles.  

So, why "Hairy Woodpecker?"

Hairy Woodpeckers are named for their long white or light-colored feathers on its back which, I suppose, loosely resemble long white hairs.  

Even its "species name" (more formally, its "specific epithet") villosus refers to being villiform, or hair-like.  (Actually, villiform more correctly refers not to hair per se, but to villi which are tiny hairlike projections on mucous membrane surfaces.  But I digress ... )

This is not an uncommon species in North America.  It is the larger 'cousin' to the Downy Woodpecker that has a shorter bill.  A "downy" woodpecker?  "Down," in animals, generally refers to fine soft dense hair found in mammals.  OK, here we go again ... 

While we're at it, enjoy a few photos of feathers
from my collection ... (PDF).