Downy or Hairy? (1 Viewer)

[ltshears]

ok , i not sure how to tell these two species apart.. could someone help me, is this a downy or a Hariy Woodpecker?

 

[prairiemerlin]

Downy. It appears small, with a short bill, and I can see a bit of black barring on the outer white tail feathers. In relation to the suet log, it looks small - Hairys are really big, about as big as a Red-belly, and they have long, sturdy bills. Nice pictures by the way!

neil g.

 

[ltshears]

Downy. It appears small, with a short bill, and I can see a bit of black barring on the outer white tail feathers. In relation to the suet log, it looks small - Hairys are really big, about as big as a Red-belly, and they have long, sturdy bills. Nice pictures by the way!

neil g.

Ok thanks.. unfortunatly i have yet to see a red-bellied woodpecker.. Hoping someday i will see one though... I did see a Northern Flicker the other day which made me happy ...

 

[AlexC]

Yes, a male Downy.

Downies' bills are about half their head diameter while Hairies' are about the same length as head diameter. Also, in the east, those black bars on the white, outer retrices (tail-feathers) are a good indicator of Downy.

See attached. :t:

 

[Storm-Petrel]

yup, downy. the main way i tell is the downy is smaller and has a chubby "cute" look. and the downys bill is much smaller than the hairys in comparisin to the head

 

[draycotebirding]

From an English point of view Downy look the same size as our Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Hairy like our Great Spotted Woodpecker

Regards

John

 

[ltshears]

Yes, a male Downy.

Downies' bills are about half their head diameter while Hairies' are about the same length as head diameter. Also, in the east, those black bars on the white, outer retrices (tail-feathers) are a good indicator of Downy.

See attached. :t:

Thanks Alex.. i also didn't realize there was size difference with the hairy and downy so i now i know..