Hairy Woodpecker

I found a new bird! At least it's new for me. Well, kinda new anyway. This bird is called a hairy woodpecker. They are the identical big brothers to downy woodpeckers, which I've featured before here several times in the past. The problem is that I didn't know the difference between the two back then, so a few of those downies may have been hairies instead.

So now that raises the question of what makes them different; and you are curious now, aren't you? The simple answer is that a hairy woodpecker is much bigger than a downy woodpecker. Seeing them together is the only way to see that difference unless you've seen as many of them as I have. The easiest way to tell them apart though is their beak size.

Take a look at the hairy woodpecker in the photo above. His beak is about the same length as his head. The beak of a downy woodpecker is much shorter than its head. That's how you know. And notice I said "his." That red on the back of his head tells us that he's a male. Females don't have the red; only the males do.

There are other smaller differences, but the ones I told you are more obvious and they're good enough to use every time. Did you learn something new? I've wanted to share this information for a long time now, but I didn't have any hairy woodpeckers to show you until now.

This is the only bird I got pictures of during my latest nature trip, but I heard many of them. Blue jays seemed to be everywhere, but I could only hear them. They seem to like avoiding me for some reason. I also heard some chickadees, cardinals, and several other types, but I saw almost nothing.

The forest is waking up and getting ready for spring here. The animals are everywhere even though they're not ready to be seen yet. Soon I'll have more pictures than I know what to do with. For now, I'm happy with what I have. I'd say I did pretty well for someone who can't get out very often right now.

Oh. We have the identity of the tree from my last post! Out On The Prairie was on the right track with his answers, and Sharkbytes knew exactly what it was. The flowers are actually old seed pods from a tulip tree. I knew I had seen these fake flowers before somewhere. They were on Sharkbytes' blog. Take a look here.

The hairy woodpecker has been my best find in quite some time now. I have more things coming in the near future for you, so expect me back soon. So make sure you comer back next time. I have such sights to show you!


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