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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