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ID my Woodpecker. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter -25
- Start date
BigRedBirder
Active member
-25 said:
It definitely looks like a downy woodpecker. The bill is relatively small compared to the head. The bill would be much larger on a Hairy.
Katy Penland
Well-known member
I second the motion for Downy. :t:
craig whitmore
Well-known member
:hi: Hi guysBigRedBirder said:
His brothers hang out at my suet feeders. Male downey
Craig
cavan wood
Well-known member
BigRedBirder said:
You can also make out a couple of black dots on the outer white tail feather in the first photo. This is typical for downy.
Scott
gthang
Ford Focus Fanatic: mmmmmm... 3.1415926535.....
Every male Downy has a single red patch. A male Hairy, on the other hand, has the red patch divided into two sections by the black stripe on the head (a vertical stripe dividing the head into two sides: left and right). According to a source, of the surveyed Downy and Hairy populations east of the Rockies, only the Hairies had this divided patch. However, not many field guides mention this patch characteristic as it may be difficult to see in the field. I noticed this stripe back in 2004. I think if you search the forums, you could find a thread with the picture of the comparision of the patches that I made from my pictures.
Identifying females is a bit trickier as they don't have the red patch. As I have not seen a female Hairy around my house, I don't know how to tell them apart with the greatest of ease. Best bet would be to use a combination of field marks (beak size relative to head, tail spots, etc.) and make your ID that way. If you get lots of each species, photographs could help you determine if there are any other features that only downies would have or hairies would have. Like I said, the black stripe on male hairies is not mentioned in most field guides, so use that to your liking (I guarantee you, if you see it from behind first, check for this patch and make your ID. If the bird turns around and it has the bigger bill, then you were right on the mark with Hairy)
Other guides note that on Hairies west of the Rockies, they tend to have tail spots, which is why I try not to base my ID solely on the tail spots alone. Even based on bird size alone is not recommended, as a male downy is nearly as big as a female hairy.
Hope this information overload helps you out some.
Identifying females is a bit trickier as they don't have the red patch. As I have not seen a female Hairy around my house, I don't know how to tell them apart with the greatest of ease. Best bet would be to use a combination of field marks (beak size relative to head, tail spots, etc.) and make your ID that way. If you get lots of each species, photographs could help you determine if there are any other features that only downies would have or hairies would have. Like I said, the black stripe on male hairies is not mentioned in most field guides, so use that to your liking (I guarantee you, if you see it from behind first, check for this patch and make your ID. If the bird turns around and it has the bigger bill, then you were right on the mark with Hairy)
Other guides note that on Hairies west of the Rockies, they tend to have tail spots, which is why I try not to base my ID solely on the tail spots alone. Even based on bird size alone is not recommended, as a male downy is nearly as big as a female hairy.
Hope this information overload helps you out some.
alancairns
Well-known member
-25 said:
It's a downy. First, these suet feeders are 6 inches, and the bird is smaller than that. A hairy is larger than the feeder. Secondly, the bill size is way less than that of a hairy. This gives the birds an entirely different "face". I have both at my suet feedres daily, and a glance is sufficient to distinguish them.
Alan
cayoncreekman
Well-known member
A downy but just some precautions:
-size of bird? What size suet feeder it is? I have small and big suet holders.. Any judgement from objects in a photo can be 'iffy' unless stated somewhere specifically.
-Downy description vs Hairy. Our birds here vary a great deal and other than overall size and bill length, markings such as red patch, wing bars and so on are quite variable. The word 'ususally' or 'often' before a statement is better than 'always'. In fact a lot of our birds on the boreal edge are highly variable (crossbills, redpolls and so on) .
-size of bird? What size suet feeder it is? I have small and big suet holders.. Any judgement from objects in a photo can be 'iffy' unless stated somewhere specifically.
-Downy description vs Hairy. Our birds here vary a great deal and other than overall size and bill length, markings such as red patch, wing bars and so on are quite variable. The word 'ususally' or 'often' before a statement is better than 'always'. In fact a lot of our birds on the boreal edge are highly variable (crossbills, redpolls and so on) .
Katy Penland
Well-known member
Spot on, Ookpik.
Also in Hairys, the rectrical spotting is not wholly diagnostic unless the bird's location is taken into account.
The red patch thing is not a diagnostic feature. This is undoubtedly the reason that all the North American field guides don't list it as a field mark. I have two male Hairys in my yard, neither of which has a bisected red nape patch, and as has been discussed in previous threads, this is highly variable from one bird to another within each species. :t:
Also in Hairys, the rectrical spotting is not wholly diagnostic unless the bird's location is taken into account.
The red patch thing is not a diagnostic feature. This is undoubtedly the reason that all the North American field guides don't list it as a field mark. I have two male Hairys in my yard, neither of which has a bisected red nape patch, and as has been discussed in previous threads, this is highly variable from one bird to another within each species. :t:
