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Hairy Woodpecker

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Mitch Waite

I am so excited.  I now have 2 kinds of woodpeckers in my yard.  3 red-bellied woodpeckers and a hairy woodpecker.

The hairy woodpecker showed up today.  Some of the people around here tell me I am lucky, Because these are to very different birds.  I love the colors on them.  The size difference is amazing!  

Hi nanaku!  So excited about your woodpeckers.  I think i saw a newly fledged hairy woodpecker yesterday.  It's mother was showing it how to peck insects out of the tree branch.  Of course, I didn't have my camera with me at the time!  But it was exciting to watch them.  I've also seen a Pileated lately too but couldn;t get a pic of it either!

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Matthew 6:26

Nanaku,

Red-bellied and Hairy Woodpeckers are practically the same size. The other woodpecker you're seeing is probably a Downy Woodpecker, which is very similar to Hairy, but smaller with a smaller bill.

I wasn't sure if it was a hairy or a downy woodpecker.  I figured it must have been a hairy woodpecker because the red "hair" made a band that went around the back of his head.  All the pictures i've seen of the downy show "poofs" of red feathers that kind of stick up.  kind of like red ears.  "my" woodpecker was very small compared to the red bellies I have in my yard.  He stuck around for a short time.  I couldn't get a picture,  hope he comes back! :)

I'm not sure what you mean by red hair and red poofs, but the Downy is basically only distinguishable from the Hairy by smaller size and bill. If your woodpecker was much smaller than the Red-bellied, it's a Downy Woodpecker.

I love the woodpeckers.  I mostly have downy woodpeckers.  I have at least 2 pair of downys.  During the winter, I saw a red bellied periodically and only a couple of times saw the hairy woodpecker.   I stopped putting out suet for awhile and when I started putting it out again, the hairy woodpecker(I only know for sure there is one) started coming regularly.  I see him almost everyday, even though I am not always out at the same time everyday.  Now that I think of it, I can't remember if I have a male or female hairy woodpecker, but we call him Hairy.  Since I am used to seeing the downy woodpeckers, Hairy looks big.   

 

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