OUR FAMILY'S DOWNEY WOODPECKER
The photos below are of a little downey woodpecker who decided to take up residence in our apple tree on Saturday March 23, 2019. He began his effort in the afternoon and about three hours later was able to expel bits of wood from inside his new house. I've identified it as a downey woodpecker and is male. Males apparently are identified by the bright red patch on the head. While it's sometimes difficult to distinguish between downey and hairy woodpeckers, downey woodpeckers are smaller and fluffier, and the beak is much shorter than the hairy woodpecker. We sometimes wondered if this little guy had abandoned us, but several days later when my son went close to the tree so get a look, the little fellow raised its head to show it was still there.The last photos in the group show him in residence.