Downy Woodpecker

Liam to the rescue again. I hope you get into college for ornithology.

Yeah, this is a definite Downy. You can even see the black markings on the outer tail feathers in photos 2 and 3, which Hairy would lack.

Heather, I think you may be right.... the two birds look extremely similar. "Hairy" woodpecker was a name suggested by a friend and i didn't think twice about it . Now viewing your suggestion and your comment about the size difference i see that my bird is too small to be what i listed it as. Thank you Ranger!

Given the size of this Woodpecker, I think he /might/ be a Downy Woodpecker (6 3/4") tall, which is the size of the suet feeder he's on. Hairy Woodpeckers are (9 1/4") tall, which would probably place him hanging off the bottom of the feeder by 3 or so inches. Unless you have a larger than typical suet feeder. The two birds look identical, have the same range practically.

But, something I'm not good enough to tell yet - is the Downy Woodpecker has a bill that is "1/2 the depth of the head". While the Hairy Woodpecker has a much larger beak to head ration that is "more than 1/2 the depth of the head". In my bird book, Stokes Field Guide, the birds look identical but for the beak on the Hairy being nearly the size of the head.

I hope this helps with ID purposes.