Woodpeckers, in general, have zygodactyl feet (two toes forward and two toes facing back) in order to cling to and climb trees. They have a chisel shaped bill and a remarkably long tongue. Stiff tail feathers are used to support themselves and enable the bird to hitch up trees. All these characteristics allow the woodpecker to eat insects on and under the bark of trees (and facilitate clinging to feeders). They are also able to excavate their own nest holes because of these features.

Often woodpeckers are combinations of black and white with some red distinguishing the male and female.

The downy is the smallest woodpecker, but is colored very much like the hairy. The length of the bill on the hairy is the same length as his head and the downy's bill is about one half the length of his head. In both cases only the male has red on his nape.

The red-bellied woodpecker has a ladder-like black and white back. The male has red on the top of his head and his nape, while the female has only the red nape. The lower abdomen is washed in red.

The pileated woodpecker is a large bird with a black back and a white front. Both sexes have large red crests (Woody Woodpecker-like), but only the male has red on his cheeks.

The yellow-bellied sapsucker has smudgy black and white stripes on the back and the forehead is red. The male also has red on his throat, while the female has white. The underparts of the body have a yellow wash. This bird differs from other woodpeckers in that he will drill holes in a tree to drink the sap.

Northern flickers are mostly brown but have many different markings (black stripes going horizontally and vertically; black dots and spots and bib; bright yellow feather shafts under the wings and tail; and a red crescent on the back of the head). The black mustache is only on the male. Altogether the northern flicker looks like he's wearing mismatched pj's. Besides this wild coloring, another distinction from other woodpeckers is his love for foraging on the ground for ant holes.

It's fun to watch woodpeckers and their natural antics on trees and sometimes on the ground. However, they also seem delighted to come to feeders and enjoy all things peanut buttery (who doesn't).

All the woodpeckers pose nicely on a feeder for a while, which would make photographing them relatively easy if only their heads weren't usually in motion hammering.