I'm often asked, "How do you tell a downy woodpecker from a hairy?"
It's tricky. The hairy is overall larger but unless they are side by side, size is hard to judge from a distance.
The petite downy is also more people friendly, more often seen in suburbia and backyards; they seem to come to the feeders more readily. I see hairy woodpeckers more often in the woods.
But the real field marking to look for is bill length: the downy's is dainty, the hairy's heavy and it's as long as its head is wide.
In these two photos, can you tell which is which?
My question is: Since they both can occur in the same forest, each must have a special niche. How do they coexist?
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2 comments:
The differences in morphology point to their occupying different ecological niches - in terms of foraging behavior, diet and nest and roost hole selection.
While these two species are in the same genus, unlike ivorybills and pileateds, there's an analogy to be drawn.
Mark. You are correct. They coexist but do not get into each others way.
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