I while ago Tess told me there was a discussion I might be interested in on the identity of a woodpecker, some said Downey, some said Hairy.

Today during my "blind time" when i sit out in the blind and see who comes to visit, a couple of Hairy woodpeckers came and I got a picture of one.



There are two points of interest besides the size, and it's really hard to judge the size when you aren't seeing both at the same time. One being the how broad the bill is at the base, the other being the dark stripes on the tail feathers.

I'm concentrating mostly on the tail feathers. Here are four different angles of the tail feathers showing the stripes.









I backed the lens out to 260mm to get all the hairy in frame, and I should have gone to 200mm, the Downy pictures are taken at full reach, 300mm. The Downy bill also appears to be much shorter, proportionately.



The nuthatch has nothing to do with this, but he was my other capture of the day.



I captured a couple of clear tail images today... the Downy with the stripes the Hairy with no stripes... Updated March 15, 2014.

Hairy


Downy

[pete-tarmigan]

I while ago Tess told me there was a discussion I might be interested in on the identity of a woodpecker, some said Downey, some said Hairy.

Today during my "blind time" when i sit out in the blind and see who comes to visit, a couple of Hairy woodpeckers came and I got a picture of one.



There are two points of interest besides the size, and it's really hard to judge the size when you aren't seeing both at the same time. One being the how broad the bill is at the base, the other being the dark stripes on the tail feathers.

I'm concentrating mostly on the tail feathers. Here are four different angles of the tail feathers showing the stripes.


The Downy bill also appears to be much shorter, proportionately.

The most useful rule of thumb for separating Hairy and Downy (other than the stripes on the outer tail feathers) that I have heard is: if the length of the bill is half of the length of the head it's a Downy; if the length of the bill is almost the same as the length of the head it's a Hairy. With that method you don't need to have the two species side-by-side.

I guess the stripes on the outer tail feathers rule is not as hard and fast as I thought. In W. Earl Godfrey's revised (1986) "Birds of Canada" (published by National Museums of Canada) he states that some Hairies on the Island of Newfoundland and along southern coastal British Columbia (where the species is darker than other parts of North America) have dark stripes on the outer tail feathers. The late Godfrey, as curator of birds at the National Museum, was a very thorough student of birds, so I have no reason to doubt him.

[Jacquot]

The call is different too, deeper, or fuller sound. Great photos. We get mostly Downy's here, but occasionally a Hairy. Haven't had either so far this year, and the suet is out.

[normhead]

The most useful rule of thumb for separating Hairy and Downy (other than the stripes on the outer tail feathers) that I have heard is: if the length of the bill is half of the length of the head it's a Downy; if the length of the bill is almost the same as the length of the head it's a Hairy. With that method you don't need to have the two species side-by-side.

I guess the stripes on the outer tail feathers rule is not as hard and fast as I thought. In W. Earl Godfrey's revised (1986) "Birds of Canada" (published by National Museums of Canada) he states that some Hairies on the Island of Newfoundland and along southern coastal British Columbia (where the species is darker than other parts of North America) have dark stripes on the outer tail feathers. The late Godfrey, as curator of birds at the National Museum, was a very thorough student of birds, so I have no reason to doubt him.

SOunds like the birds are trying to confuse us.

The call is different too, deeper, or fuller sound. Great photos. We get mostly Downy's here, but occasionally a Hairy. Haven't had either so far this year, and the suet is out.

We seem to get some every year, I'm pretty sure the two Downy woodpeckers hatched this summer. The Hairies I think are from the year before.

[Bob Harris]

we certainly don't have these beauties here, we only have ravens, roadrunners and hummingbirds. great shots Norm.

[slowpez]

I hate learning something new this early in the morning as it doesn't stay in my head until I have consumed all my coffee. I did however thoroughly enjoy the photos. Good stuff Norm.

[normhead]

I hate learning something new this early in the morning as it doesn't stay in my head until I have consumed all my coffee. I did however thoroughly enjoy the photos. Good stuff Norm.

Thanks for the comment, I guess you're just have to come back and read it later when you're awake.

[mole]

These are some excellent illustrations of the difference between the species, as well as excellent photos in general. You should start a field guide to backyard birds!

[normhead]

These are some excellent illustrations of the difference between the species, as well as excellent photos in general. You should start a field guide to backyard birds!

We have an excellent book called Birds of Algonquin Park, by Ron Tozer, who used to be the park naturalist. Since Algonquin Park is East, West and North of us. So it's pretty much been covered. We don't have half the species he has in his book. But it's a charming Idea.

[OnTheWeb]

Brilliant series.

[normhead]

Thanks...

[normhead]

Thread, updated.

[atupdate]

Thread, updated.

I missed this thread the first time around. Thanks for updating.

Tim

[normhead]

I missed this thread the first time around. Thanks for updating.

Tim

I took a couple images within the last month, I was in the blind, the Hairy came and i took a few pictures, then the Downey came, so instead of zooming in bit, I used the exact same set-up to show the size difference. Now I can't find the images.... the best laid plans of mice and men....

ah ha, found them.... largest to smallest....
Hairy Woodpecker


Downy Woodpecker


White Breasted Nuthatch


Chickadee


Red Breasted Nuthatch


All to scale. All the suet post feeders.

[Lowell Goudge]

I have sibley's petersons and national geographic guides and all of them stress that while the hairy "Usually" has white side tail feathers, this is not always the case, with local varieties, and that the black spots or bars on the downy may not always be displayed (I.e. Hidden)

All guides stress the fact that the downy has a much smaller bill proportional to body size, compared to the hairy woodpecker