CLOSED: Woodpecker ID

Woodpecker feeding after snowstorm in Northern Virginia. Can anyone tell the species and gender? Sorry its not a better picture.

Here is a top view.

Look's like a male Downy Woodpecker.

Correction first picture is a male Downy, 2nd picture is a female Downy, can just barely see the spots on the tails of both bird's.

Edited for spelling

This message was edited Feb 13, 2010 1:15 AM

I see two Downys, too. I can just make out the red spot of the male in the 1st pic. Burd's got better eyes than me. Pretty sure the second one's a female.

Here's one of my pics showing a female Downy (no red spot) and a male Downy (with red spot). I see them regularly.

BTW, it could have been a Hairy Wp, but the spots on the tail ID'd it. A Hairy Wp looks a lot like a Downy, but a Downy has spots along the sides of its tail feathers (look at my pic), while a Hairy Wp's tail feathers are solid white. A Hairy is also bigger than a Downy. I've never seen a Hairy Wp here in Columbus, Ga

Hack

This message was edited Feb 13, 2010 1:21 AM

Thanks for the ID help! I believe that the first is a female too then. The faint reddish tinge on the edge of the back of the head I think is an artifact of enlargement. When I enlarge the photo more I get similar effects on the edge of th plastic container and a nearby branch. We never saw any clear red markings on the back of the head despite probably 50 viewings over the past two days. By the way, can either of you tell me how to tell the gender of red-bellied woodpeckers? Thanks again!

I can chime on RB Woodpeckers. The red on the male's heads goes down to their forehead and the female will only have a red nape. Check out www.birds.cornell.edu for their fantastic online bird guide! Click on the link marked "All About Birds". You will need the hyphen when you type in Red-Bellied Woodpecker in the search field!

A female Red-bellied Woodpecker will have a Gray patch on the top of the head, the male's is completely red.

Is it likely we would have a male RB show up dozens of times a day to feed, but not a mate? Same for the downy? Thanks again.

Sure, I have some pairs here but the males seem to be the only ones coming into the yard right now. I have also seen fights between a pair if one comes to near to where the other is feeding.
Other people see just the opposite though.

I have the same deal - I only ever saw the male, so I was kind of sad that he was all alone and I was trying to think if there was some way I could help find him a girlfriend. Then I happened to mention it to someone who lives the next block over. We realized that the pair lives in a backyard tree, but he feeds this way and she goes the other way.

greenthumb99,

Here is a pair of Red-belly Woodpeckers I photographed in my yard. As others said, you can see the gray area atop the female's head. The male, as you can see, has red from front to back on his head.

Sometimes, its hard to see the red belly, but on my female it is visible.

And I see more males than females. I reckon she is tending the nest and babes.

Hack

This message was edited Feb 13, 2010 6:26 PM

Burd and ssmith - Shortly after I read your remarks about the differences between RBs by gender and I asked if only one would appear at our feeding station I saw both a male and female RB at opposite ends of the clementine box we had put food in. Almost like Hackster's photo above, but in a single shot. Unfortunately, the battery for my camera was charging. I want to thank all of you who have commented on this thread. I am learning alot.