Woodpecker

[AQUAJOE]

Maybe somebody could help me identify this I think it is a Female Hairy Woodpecker?

Sorry about the quality it was through a window.

Nikon 4800 ED

[buzzsaw]

It could be the female Hairy or the female Downy... the Hairy's are noticeably larger and I can't tell by the picture how big yours was... I'm gonna guess it was small and it's the female Downy WP. I just scrolled down and noticed that I have that same suet feeder... I'm definitely saying Downy based on the size.

[Steve Foss]

I'm with Buzz. When you can't get a good read on the size of the bird, the length of the bill compared with the head can help. Downies bills are smaller and finer, hairies longer and more thick. It's not all that easy for a good look at bill length/thickness, either, but it looks distinctly downyish to me.

[buzzsaw]

Here are a few images I took today the will show a few of the differences between the Downy and the Hairy Woodpecker.

Downy woodpecker ~ smaller beak and smaller body (even though hard to tell in pics)

The Hairy Woodpecker has a longer beak and larger body.

Yes, those are different birds taken on the same bush, they look that much alike.

Here is a frequesnt fan of the Oranges I put out, the Red Bellied WP.

[Steve Foss]

Buzz, nice! Good images and thanks for illustrating the differences.

[buzzsaw]

Thanks Steve, technically I only care somewhat for the top image as I have de-tailed the other two. But I didn't in my other shots....