NATURE TIME

[spatch]

The Downy Woodpecker: Nature's Little Alarm Clock

Shown: A downy woodpecker in its natural habitat; some nature website.
Not Shown: The little feller who decided to go to work on the top corner eaves this morning. He flew off when I opened the kitchen window. He hopped around on a branch nearby all indignant and went back to work while I went for the camera.

We made eye contact when I leaned out the open window. He gave a disgruntled cheep then flew off, and has not been back since which is a shame since now I have my camera all ready. If he does come back though maybe I ought to let the cat make eye contact next. Not that the cat can reach him or anything. But someone apparently needs to know who's boss around here. RECOGNIZE THIS, LIL FELLA? IT'S A PREDATORY SHAPE! (Meanwhile, Mr. 20 Pound Throw Rug will squirm uncomfortably in my arms and decide he wants to be doing anything else at the moment.)

It might be a hairy woodpecker. It could be. I didn't get a good beak-to-head ratio which is one of the differences between the two that Mr. Nature Website told me about. It's just as well, because I ain't about to go typing "hairy woodpecker" into GIS all willy-nilly.

Comments

[luckimunki.livejournal.com]

The Hairy woodpecker is similar, but in my opinion, pretty easy to tell apart. The beak is quite noticeably longer, and overall the bird is just a lot bigger. A Downy is on par with perhaps a sparrow, while the Hairy is closer to the size of a Starling. There are other field marks, but they're quite fiddly, and I won't bore you with them.

Here is a good size comparison shot.