Tree-clinging birds - US, Northwest Oregon semi-rural near mixed woodland and creek (1 Viewer)

[duncankitchin]

Greetings - my first post here in many years. We have just moved to a new location in NW Oregon (97124 ZIP code) further out from the suburbs, and have found ourselves with a multitude of new and interesting birds to identify. We have several feeders set up with different seeds/suet, and have many birds that we recognize stopping by, along with many others we have never seen before.

There are a number of tree-clinging birds that are new to me, the most common of which I'm pretty sure is a red-breasted nuthatch. I have some pictures I will post later. In the meantime, there is a less-frequent visitor that I'm tentatively identifying as a downy woodpecker.

Observations: mostly dark brown to black, with white underbody and black/white stripes on the face, lighter spots on the wings. Clings only to the trunk of trees; I have never seen it on a branch. Unlike the nuthatches, which seem to be very comfortable clinging to trees and feeders at any orientation, the ? woodpecker always wants to be vertical. It seems to like a suet block (apparently intended to attract woodpeckers specifically) that is in a feeder designed for woodpeckers. It will bounce backwards and forwards occasionally between the feeder and a large-ish maple tree nearby.

I don't have a good absolute idea of scale, but it's bigger than a chickadee and smaller than a robin. Maybe about 5 1/2"?

Hopefully the below video link should work:

mp4 video on Dropbox

any thoughts on ID gratefully received.

 

[nartreb]

The bird in the video is a woodpecker, all right. I'm not certain, but I get the impression it's a Hairy rather than a Downy. (The beak looks long to me.)

I'm sure you're right about the nuthatch, but keep an eye out for a couple of other nuthatch species, differing mostly in head color. (Red-breasted is the only one with a black-on-white eye stripe.)

Other tree-clinging birds to watch for in your area: sapsuckers (you should get red-breasted near the coast, Williamson's in the hills) and brown creepers.

 

[duncankitchin]

Thanks! I was mostly going on size for the downy vs hairy ID - I will see if I can get some better pictures tomorrow.

Here are some of my pictures of the nuthatches - most are very similar to this, but there's another larger one that shows up occasionally that I'm less sure about. I haven't been able to get any pictures yet because it hasn't stuck around long enough. Would definitely help if I had a better camera - these are all just with my phone.

I am also on the lookout for sapsuckers, but haven't seen anything yet. There is a large, knarly old apple tree on the property that is completely covered in evenly spaced holes that definitely looks like the work of a sapsucker. I'll take a picture of that when I get a chance also.

 

[rkj]

I also think the woodpecker is a Hairy - a juvenile male. The nuthatches are certainly Red-breasted.

 

[rkj]

Having looked at the video several more times, I now think the woodpecker is likely a Downy.

 

[duncankitchin]

Thanks! I'll see if it's back tomorrow and maybe get some more pictures.

 

[Butty]

I can't even get as close as being sure that it's hairy/downy - but ...
- What's the vertical measurement of the wooden? panel on the side of the feeder?
- Are you completely certain sure that the 2 birds in the video are the same individual?

 

[duncankitchin]

Not immediately sure on the vertical measurement - but that's a great idea to go and measure it. I'll look into that.

And yes, definitely the same individual. The video is actually an edit from a single continuous take, but since it's taken using a phone, there are periods where the view is very shaky, so I just clipped the best parts of the take together to make something a little more presentable. I think there was only one individual coming and going during the morning today, but can't be completely sure.

(there is, however, a pretty large contingent of nuthatches, and I'm pretty confident that the pictures of those are showing multiple individuals. I'm typically seeing several at once)