This mornings woodpeckers

kendra2003

16 years ago

I happened to catch a Hairy Woodpecker on one side of the tree, with a Red-Bellied on the other. I have had a hard time trying to get a photo since they move so much, but I got lucky this morning, so I thought I'd share.

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Comments (10)

chickadeemelrose
16 years ago
Congrats! What a great photo - you couldn't ask for a better moment, with the two of them on the tree - way to go!
lisa11310
16 years ago
Great illistration on the size of these birds and may help newbies with the difference between Downies and Haries!
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Out of the 10 nest boxes I have in my yard, 7 are occupied by downies at night, all year long. This is not uncommon. They are quite stealthy about going in there, though... I have never seen one enter, but if you go over to the box at dusk with a flashlight (in summer time) and make a click click with your tongue, they will pop their head to the hole to see what the commontion is... its too funny.
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Downys also use thermoregulation in the winter to conserve energy. They can slow their heart beat and reduce body temperature - sort of a mini hibernation. I've seen many photos of people in the dead of winter going out after dark and taking pictures of downies "sleeping" in bluebird boxes. You can open the box and they dont wake up. I was meaning to try it this winter, since I have a BB box a Downy uses. I never made it out this year and the extreme cold temperatures are past us, maybe next year.
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Golfinchguy, if you can find a source for it, consider putting up some raw suet, which is just plain beef fat chunks cut from the kidney area of cows. It attracts the woodpeckers like crazy - the suet cage with raw suet that hangs on the big oak tree is their favorite feeder by far. Oftentimes people buy the suet cakes at the store and some of these mixtures are not appealing to birds. Raw suet has the added advantage of not being attractive to House Sparrows, or grey squirrels (every once in awhile I see a red squirrel eating some). Other birds like it too - Chicks, nuthatches, blue jays, and even the blue birds will eat some if I don't put out their favorite nuggets (Bluebirds get special feedings whenever I see them!). Starlings do like the raw suet too, but I only get a few of those in the winter.
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Oh thank you so much Susan, you are soooo good. You'll be in my prayers tonight !!!
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marricgardens
16 years ago
Awesome shot! We only get one woodpecker here. I thought it was a Downy but when I posted a pic, I was corrected and told it was a Hairy.
kendra2003
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks so much. Yes, I think it really does help to show the size in order to identify the Hairy vs. the Downy. I've had Downies and Hairies on the tree at the same time and tried to get a shot of that, but so far have not been successful.
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
16 years ago
Incredible photo!

I haven't seen any Red-bellies this winter. I miss them.

Claire
lazypup
16 years ago
Fantastic Photo.

Like many others I had erroneously identified a female downy woodpecker as a hair woodpecker until a hairy actually showed up and I saw the difference in size.

I have since adopted a couple tricks to give a physical reference on the size of different birds.

For woodpeckers I made a suet feeder using galvanized hardware cloth that has a 1/2" square mesh. In the manner when the woodpecker is sitting on or near the suet feeder I have a good physical size reference in the photo.

On my other feeders I took a permanent magic marker and marked dots at 1/2" both vertical and horizontal.

Here are a coupe woodpecker shots to show how the 1/2" grid shows their size.
chickadeemelrose
16 years ago
My way of distinguishing the hairy from the downy woodpecker is that the hairy's bill is at least half the length of his head.

I hope to get my hairy woodpecker photos on here soon (I've never done it without a lot of help).
kendra2003
Original Author
16 years ago
I hope you can get your photos up. I would love to see the pictures of your Hairies.
sowngrow (8a) G
16 years ago
Love that photo Kendra-yours too lazypup. I can never get enough of seeing woodpeckers. I had a Downy at my suet today, as I often do. After eating his fill, he lounged on a branch above the feeder. He was actually stretched out along the branch and just turning his head, looking side to side as he "laid out." I've never seen anything like it. I noticed in my Sibley that the Downy has a conspicuous tuft above the bill which is the easiest way for me to distinquish between the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers.
rachel_frome_ky
16 years ago
Such cute photos..the first one is unusual, and great for size comparisons

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This mornings woodpeckers

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This mornings woodpeckers

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