Monday, May 23, 2011

Downies and Hairies (woodpeckers, that is...)


It's been fun watching the woodpeckers at our peanut feeder at the shed...we normally have a lot of little downy woodpeckers, fewer hairies, but also some flickers and red bellied woodpeckers.  They love the peanut butter feeder on the porch, but we seldom catch them there, we just see where they've been!

I never realized the larger hairy woodpeckers had a different kind of red patch till I started keeping binoculars by my chair.  LOVE seeing the detail...

I can't see to get a very good photo, though!

For more on these cheeky critters, check here--much better photos than I usually find of that particular detail--and much better than I can get!

9 comments:

  1. Thank you, Matteo! I'm really enjoying this...

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  2. This is great. My neighbor and I have been wonder what we have in our yards.. We have two kinds and not sure which was which. Now this gives me a better idea of what to look for. I also looked at the photos. Thanks.

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  3. Great, Cris! Hairies are quite a bit bigger, but it's the longer bill that makes it easy to tell.

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  4. Thanks Kate!

    I never noticed the divided red patch on the hairy either. Now I will pay closer attention! I'm looking forward to seeing fledglings soon too.

    Love your educational sketches.

    nanina

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  5. Next you will want a camera with a 300 lens so you can photograph them to see detail. :) My binoculars stay by the window constantly.

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  6. I DO wish I had one, Toni, but then I'd have to keep a tripod set up...and yes, don't binoculars ROCK?? I must have seen hundreds of hairy woodpeckers in my life and never noticed that till recently. Also our hairies seem to have a brighter red than the downies...

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