The only woodpecker at my feeder so far is this little guy. I can't tell if it is a downy woodpecker or a hairy woodpecker.
I have a birdbook that was my parents book that I don't think I can trust. It is an older book and the birds are hand illustrated. By the book that I have this bird would be a hairy woodpecker because of the larger white area on its back. The downy illustration doesn't show that much white but that could be artist error. I did look on the internet for pictures and I still can see the difference. It is a downy. The hairy woodpecker has more of a body shape like the red headed woodpecker
The book I see was published first in 1983 and it doesn't include the Eurasian ringneck morning dove. Those doves moved into the country the past 15 years. The couple who made the book created a nice book but it isn't written with great technical information. The above, I now declare, is a downy woodpecker. The suet should draw more birds eventually but we are going to warm up for a few days. The snow cover may be decreased a lot in the next couple of days. It takes heavy snow to make the birds come in from out in the timbers surrounding the town.
4 comments:
You certainly got some good, clear photos. We are having warmer days - highs in the 50's and the wind finally died down. John designed a gadget to clean our gutters while standing on the ground! We put it to use this afternoon.
HGallo Larry ! I'am ba
Hello Larry !
I'am back.
Thanks for your comments while I'am on vacation so far away.
I think this bird is a female Downy woopecker.
yes a Downy...the Downy has a shorter beak than the Hairy. AND the Downy usually has spots on the tail feathers. They are almost identical other than that. Downys are a bit smaller than Hairys too..you need a new Birdbook! :)
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