While blue jays are my favorite bird to come to my feeders, they all look alike. Male and female are basically the same, and there is only the one kind of blue jay in our area.

But, woodpeckers are my second favorite and they are many and varied.

I see four different species from my window, and male and female are easy to tell apart.

Woodpeckers are easy to identify.

They cling to trees or feeders while eating and seldom eat seeds.

When they fly, it is with an undulating motion, up and down rather than a straight flight to their destination.

They nest in hollow trees — either ones they have found or dead ones out of which they’ve excavate a cavity.

The most common, and smallest, is the downy woodpecker. It is found almost anywhere in the country where there are trees. It has white on the face and down the back and has a very short bill compared to other woodpeckers. The male has a red patch on the nape. They have strong feet for gripping tree bark and stiff tail feathers to brace themselves against the tree trunk. While their primary food is insects, they also eat nuts and berries at times.

I have a whole peanut feeder near my window for the blue jays who take a whole peanut and fly away with it.

The downy will peck on the shell of the nut until he can remove the contents from inside.

I sometimes think my feeder is still partly full, but when I look closely, it contains many empty husks. This really upsets the blue jays.

Mostly, though, they just eat on the suet blocks I have out for them.

Another woodpecker that frequents my suet feeders is the hairy woodpecker. Very similar in looks, the hairy is slightly larger than the downy. It is about nine inches long, while the downy is about six inches. It has a white chest, neck, and patches on its face.

The male also has the red patch on the back of its head. The major difference between the two birds is the hairy has a much longer beak than the downy. They are easy to tell apart if they are close together, but that doesn’t happen often.

Another woodpecker common to my feeders is the red-bellied woodpecker. It is much larger than the downy and slightly bigger than the hairy. It has a light brown chest and neck, black wings with white bars, and a red cap and nape (both male and female).

I seldom see this woodpecker on my suet feeders. I have a stand that holds five whole ears of corn, and this bird is usually on this feeder.

He takes one kernel of corn at a time, flies away, then a minute or two later is back.

I don’t know if he is eating the corn or stashing it somewhere for a later meal.

He sometimes will grab seeds from my flat tray, which holds assorted seeds other birds eat.

What made me think to write a story about woodpeckers was a recent visit from the biggest, most beautiful woodpecker we have in this area, the pilated woodpecker. He is about 18 inches tall, with a huge red crown, black and white face, a large bill, and a black body and tail.

Sometimes, I will go a whole winter without one of these birds coming to my feeder. I hang one suet feeder on my large maple tree in the backyard. It is the only feeder I have out back, and it is put there just to attract the pilated.

He has never come to my suet unless it was hanging flat against a tree trunk. When he starts to feed on a suet block, it’s like watching chips fly from a chain saw. I don’t know if he is actually eating the suet, or just tearing it up. When he is finished, just a few seconds later, the suet block is almost half gone.

While I haven’t had one at my feeders in many years, another woodpecker used to be common in this area, a red-headed woodpecker. He has a white chest, black back with white wing patches and a completely red head and neck. I’m sure there are still a few around, I’m just not seeing them.

If you want to do some great reading about another woodpecker, look up the ivory-billed woodpecker. It is bigger than the pilated and similar in markings.

Unfortunately, from the early part of last century, it was considered extinct. Then, a few years ago, some searchers reportedly found at least one living in the swamps of Arkansas. They are searching other areas along the southern coast to see if more can be found.

The author may be reached at [email protected].