You’re probably familiar with the Downy Woodpecker. It’s a little black and white bird that frequents pretty much the entire United States year round. It’s about the same size as a tufted titmouse.
The Downy Woodpecker has a lesser known doppelgänger: The Hairy Woodpecker. These birds look virtually identical, except the Hairy Woodpecker is bigger. How much bigger?
Well, we happened to have both land on our feeder the other day. Here’s a photograph. Downy on the right, Hairy on the left.
Fun fact for the bird ignorant: The Male of both the Downy and Hairy varieties has a little tuft of red feathers on the back of its head.