Tag Archives: Downy Woodpecker

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Patricia Bacchetti had a Hairy Woodpecker land on a nearby tree and seemingly pose for her.

This is a small woodpecker, but very powerful. It has a look alike, the Downy Woodpecker. One big difference between the two is the beak. In a Hairy, the beak is much longer. Below is a photo of a Downy for comparison, photo taken by Michael Reinhart. See how small the beak of the Downy is?

Hairy Woodpeckers eat insects that they search for on trunks and large branches of trees. They have a short "peek" call, which you can listen to at this link from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/sounds Scroll down to "Calls, Pacific."

Guess what? The Downy Woodpecker has a similar call. Mother Nature sure has a sense of humor at times!

Thanks to Patricia and Michael for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Very foggy at the coast but sunny just a short ways away. Very mild and lovely today.

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Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers can be difficult to tell apart. Diane Hichwa identified this woodpecker Michael Reinhart photographed as a Hairy.

Here's what Diane said about how to ID a Downy versus a Hairy:

"The white down the back is indicative of a Downy OR a Hairy.

The white outer tail feathers with NO black dots tell me it is a Hairy.

(D for downy and D for dots).

Also the bill length to head width says bigger Hairy."

Here is a photo of a Downy Woodpecker, taken by Craig Tooley, for comparison sake.

Hairy Woodpeckers have a quiet "cheep" call which you can hear at this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/sounds

Thanks to Mike for allowing me to share his photo with you here. And thanks to Craig for allowing me to show his photo here also. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

0.60 inches of rain overnight, sunny and mild today. Another smallish storm coming in Saturday afternoon/evening.

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Craig Tooley recently photographed a Downy Woodpecker.

Karen Wilkinson also spotted one.

These woodpeckers eat insects. In Karen's photos it looks like the bird is looking for tasty bugs in a snag. Downy Woodpeckers joins flocks of chickadees and nuthatches, barely outsizing them - that's small!

Thanks to Craig and Karen for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

A spectacularly clear day with no wind...consequently the temps soared. It reached 80 degrees at my place in Anchor Bay. Last night, with the clear horizon, there was a green flash at sunset. Hooray!