Great Lakes region, USA. April 2026.
I almost always get these birds mixed up with their downy counterparts. They look and sound similar. The hairy's beak is as long as its head, while the downy's is shorter. The hairy's call stays the same pitch, while the downy's will fall at the end.
TIL
I have a ton of downy woodpeckers near me and I love watching them go from tree to tree while I take a morning walk.
But maybe they’re hairys and not downies. I’ll have to get the binoculars out.
In my experience downy woodpeckers are a lot more common than hairy woodpeckers. I pretty much see a downy every time I'm out.
Blep.
Bbbllleeeppp.
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