I posted a few weeks ago on the Bird Watching forum that I had a mystery woodpecker. I finally got his picture....sorry I only have a little Kodak camera. What do you think?
CLOSED: Mystery woodpecker ID???
Looks like it might be a Hairy Woodpecker (female).
Immature? Because it looks kinda small.
Hard to judge the size - what heght is that hole by its head above the bottom of the feeder?
Otherwise, looks to have white outer tail feathers (which means Hairy), but the photo quality isn't good enough to be certain on that. And can't see the bill, which is the other useful character.
Resin
Here's one more shot....not much better I'm afraid. The whole feeder is 13" long and the bird did seem a bit small to me to be a Hairy but if it were immature or female I guess it might be smaller? The occasional Hairys I get are significantly bigger than the Downys. The beak made me think more of a Hairy...longer in relation to the head. The coloring is throwing me. I have never seen a woodpecker Hairy or Downy around here with that rusty color on it. I didn't think to measure from the bottom to the top of the hole that it's perched right next to (duh!)...I'll have to do that in the AM! Thanks for your time.
Based solely on the solid white tail feathers, I'd say female Hairy Wp.
Hack
Well if the feeder is 13 inches long and the average length of a Hairy WP is 8 to 9 inches long, my book/fg says 9", then wouldn't it take up half the length of the log?
I cant say Downy, because of the missing spots on the tail. This bird will probably be back... i would try for another photo.
The second photo shows the bill well, and it's small, so Downy. The size against the feeder fits too (a Hairy would be over half the length of the feeder, this is less). I think the missing spots in the tail is just because of the low resolution of the photo.
Resin
Definite Downy on bill size. On the tail, Sibley says "usually has dark bars on outer tail feathers, but these are sometimes lacking".
Not sure why it is so buffy around its head and body - looks a bit like Sibley's pic of the PNW subspecies. It isn't necessarily a sign of immaturity. Maybe it is just the contrast with the very-white snow, making it look less white than it would against a dark background? Or maybe feather staining, e.g. if it is roosting in a tree hole full of dust?
Resin
Okay. Thanks so much to all for your time!
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