ogmzed.Haines are even more vari- KennKaufman able: About a dozen races are found in North America,with a couple THEPRACTICED EYE more in and another 7•xtand Illustrations byKenn Kaufman five or so in and Central America.These subspecies were de- scribedoriginally on the basis of dif- ferences visible in the hand, but manyof the differencesare obvious in the field aswell. Althoughbird guidesgive one precisesize measurement for each Identifyingthe ,these actually show a lot ofregional variation. (This is a worri- somethought, since size is also a ma- jor fieldmark for separatingthem). HairyWoodpeckerFortunately, the two vary in tandem. The largestforms of bothspecies are found at the northern limits of their range,across and Alaska, and thebirds get generally smaller farther south.In both species,the largest birdsare those with thelargest bills, sothe appearance of bill size (relative to the size of the ) does not changevery muchfrom placeto In tryingto make "PracticedEye" compares the two, place.But some Downy Woodpeck- and looksat the variationin Hairy ers from the Northwest Territories general comparisons Woodpeckersthat can compoundare aboutas largeas someHairy theproblem. Woodpeckersfrom ,im- betweenHairy and TheHairy is the bigger species, of plyingthat size alone is a shakyfield course,but sizealone has little value mark for observerson unfamiliar ter- Downywoodpeckers, for identification unless the two are ritory. seenside by side. More helpful is the Anotheraspect in whichthe birds we encounter an differencein bill proportions.The varytogether is wing pattern. Hairies obstacle: Both Downy'sbill is truly tiny for a wood- and Downies acrossthe far north and pecker,barely extending beyond the in the easternstates and provinces speciesshow a lot of tuftsof feathersat itsbase. The typi- (theones that are usually illustrated) cal Hairy hasa muchlonger, more haveprominent white spots on the geographicvariation. chisel-likebill (seeFigure I). But it's coverts,especially the lesser and me- importantto notethat in the latter dian coverts, which seem to show BIRDERS SELDOM WANT TO TALK species,males have larger bills than morewhite than black; they also have aboutthe fieldidentification of very females.If your mentalimage of numerouswhite spots on the flight commonbirds. This would be espe- "typical"in Hairiesis based on males, feathers. In the west, however, from ciallytrue for suchwidespread and femalesmay not be soobvious. The the Rockiesto the PacificCoast, the familiarbirds as the Hairy Wood- occasionalsmall-billed female Hairy whitespots on the coverts largely dis- pecker( villosus) and Downy maytake a secondor third look to appear.Some Hairies in the Rocky (Picoides pubescens). identify. Mountainshave wings almost com- The implicationseems to be that In tryingto make general compar- pletelyblack, with onlya fewsmall everyoneshould already know these isonsbetween Hairy and Downy whitespots in theprimaries and sec- species.But thesetwo woodpeckers, we encounteran ob- ondaries. areastonishingly similar in plumage,stacle: Both species show a lotof geo- Colorof theunderparts also varies and they sometimesgive pause to graphicvariation. About seven dis- White is the usualcolor, but in the even experiencedobservers. This tinctsubspecies of Downies are rec- PacificNorthwest both woodpeckers

Volume 47, Number 2 ß$11 Figure1. Portraitsof Hairyand Downywoodpeckers, mainly to comparebill shapes.Top left: typicaladult mall HairyWoodpecker. Center left: typical adultfemale HairyWoodpecker. Aitbeugh the speciesvaries in bodysize and bill sizein differentparts of its range,females average shorter-billed than maleseverywhere. Bottom: an ntypicallyshort-billed adult female HairyWoodpecker. Top right: adult female DownyWoodpecker. Center right: adult male DownyWoodpecker. In this species,the sexdifference in bill sizeis slightand inconsistent,not noticeablein the field. In comparingthe two species,their different facial "expressions"seem to be causedmainly bythe smaller bill and rounderhead of the Downy,and actual differencesin markingsare hard to find. In someregions of NorthAmerica I get the impressionthat the whitespot on the sideof the napeis moreconspicuous on the Downy,more invaded by blackon the Hairy,but I wouldn'twant to suggestthat this holdsup everywhere. havethe white of the underparts,fa- theyare prevalent in a fewareas (see the birdsin the QueenCharlotte Is- cial stripes,and backreplaced by a nextparagraph). So the presenceor lands,off the coastof British Colum- palesmoky brown. absenceof tailspots is not a totallyre- bia.This isolated island group (which Beyondthese variations, in which canalso boast avery distinctive popu- Hairyand Downy woodpeckers par- lation of Northern Saw-whetOwl) alleleach other, there are some slight holdsa raceof HairyWoodpecker, P. changesin tail pattern.The white The typicalHairy v.picoideus, that looks almost differ- outer tail feathersare usuallyun- has a much longer, entenough to bea differentspecies. I markedin the , havenot seenthese woodpeckers in andusually marked with a fewblack more chisel-like bill life(though the Queen Charlottes are bars in the . gettinghigher on my list of future des- However, Downies in somenorthern tinations),but lookingat a seriesof and westernregions may havethe liablefield mark everywhere. specimensat theAmerican Museum blackbarring reduced, occasionally The HairyWoodpecker offers fur- of NaturalHistory, I wasimpressed to thepoint where these feathers ap- thersurprises in maridmeregions of with theirstriking appearance, and pear unmarked.And someHairies Canada, both east and west. Hairies with their variability.Most were havea fewblack spots or barson the found in Newfoundland often have washedwith pale brown on the breast. outertail feathers.Such birds may "extra"dark markings on the flanks Most had some dark bars on the cropup in variouspopulations, but and back. Even more distinctive are flanks,streaks or spotson thesides of

312-American Birds, Summer 1993 the chest,and blackspots or bars samequality as the "pick" call, start- one could almost count the notes in within the whiteon the back.Many ingat the same pitch as that call and theDowny's rattle (not quite, but al- had black barson the white outer tail thendescending. The Hairy'srattle most),while the notes in theHairy's feathers--andon some(mainly juve- rapid-fireburst are much too rapid niles?)these tail barswere more exten- to count. I realize that written de- sivethan on themost heavily marked scriptionsofsounds are hardly useful DownyWoodpecker. When bird bythemselves, but you might think Whenbird species are very similar about thesedescriptions the next in appearance,voice often provides a speciesare timeyou listen to recordings,or to majorclue for separating them. So it verysimilar in thewoodpeckers themselves. iswith Downy and Hairy woodpeck- So far we'vebeen comparing the ers.Each species has two common appearance,voice HairyWoodpecker only to the Dow- calls that could be described as a ny (andto itsown variable self), as "pick"note and a "rattle,"but the often provides if there were no other serious con- qualityof thesevocalizations is dif- a majorclue for tenders.But a differentkind of prob- ferent.The Downy reallydoes say lemcan arise in springand summer, pick,with a flator chirpingsound. separatingthem. whenjuvenile Hairies are on the The Hairy'snote is a sharp,ringing loose.Many juveniles are very similar peek/Wecould say that the Downy to adults on a casualview. But others sounds conversational, while the doesnot soundany longer,but it (ashinted at in thediscussion of geo- Hairysounds urgent. packsin morenotes and stays more graphicvariation) can give a different There is even more difference in or lesson one pitch--often a slightly impression. theirrattle calls. The Downygives a lowerpitch than that of the "pick" On adult Hairies,red showsup short seriesof notes with about the note.One getsthe impressionthat onlyon the nape, and only on males.

Figure2.Some examples ofgeographic variation inHairy Woodpeckers. Left:middle Atlantic coastal reg'mn ofthe eastern . The underparts arewhite, and the white spots inthe wings are large and numerous. Second from left: Pacific Northwest. These birds have fewer white spots on the wings, andthe white areas on the body and head are largely replaced bysmoky brown. Third from left: central Rocky Mountains. Although the underparts are as whiteas on eastern birds, the wings are mostly black. Right: Queen Charlotte Islands, off British Columbia. Variable, but most are strikingly patterned. Theyregularly have prominent black spots and bars on the back, sides, and flanks; their underparts areusually washed with pale brown; many have black barson the outer tail feathers (on many juveniles, much more conspicuous than shown on this adult).

Volume 47, Number 2- 313 Figure3. Somepoints regarding juvenile Hairy Woodpeckers. Left: two variations ontypical head patterns. The rod patch is on the crown, not on the nape,an it maybe present in females as well as males. It's my impression that the darker-faced juvenile Hairies occur in those populations that have fewerwhite spots on the wings, but I havenot checked this thoroughly. Center:. avariant juvenile Hairy Woodpecker from Newfoundland. Thisbird might easilybe mistaken for a Three-toedWoodpecker, asit hasbarring on the back, barring on the flanks, and a yellowcrown patch. All three of these variationsseem to bepossible in juveniles from many populations, although the blackbars on the backand flanks seem to bemost consistent and noticeableonthose from Newfoundland andthe Queen Charlotte Islands. Right: the head of an adult male Three-toed Woodpecker, forcomparison.

Butjuveniles have the red patch con- birdcorrectly, we wouldnote the TheHairy Woodpecker acts sub- totedon the crown; itmay be large or widthof the white stripes onthe face; stantially bigger, all out of propor- smallor essentially nonexistent, but it thecolor of thetufts of feathersat the tion to the sizedifference between ispresent toa varying degree inboth baseof theupper mandible (mostly the two, like a teenager trying to dis- sexes.This patchvaries in coloras whitein Hairy,mostly black in Three- tancchimself from his kid brother. wcll,anditmaybcorangcorevcnycl- toed);and if allelse failed, we could The Downy will forage on minor low.In anystandard field guide, a takeaclose look and count the toes! twigs,clambering about like an over- woodpeckerwith a yellowcrown weightchickadee, and will even wouldpatchandkey outsome to white Three-toed on theWood- back A different kind climbmullein.theThestalks Hairy ofdemandsweeds such trunksas pecker(Picoides tridactylus). Indeed, andmajor branches of realtrees. juvenileHairits have been misidcnti- of pr0b[em can (Thisisprobably partof the reason fledas such on many occasions, even whythe Downy is found more often asfar afield asthe Gulf Coast (where arise in spring and thantheHairy insuburbs andcity thesedentary andlethargic Three- summer• when parks).Climbing, theDowny pro- toedwould probably never turn up coedsina jerky, fidgety crawl, while evenifit wanted to).The resemblance juYeni[e Hairies are theHairy hitches upin bolder leaps. toThree-toed Woodpecker isheight- Inthe air, the gentle rollercoaster un- cncdbythe fact that many juvenile onthe loose. dulationsofthe Downy can'tcom- Hairitshave at least atrace of black parcwith the swooping, bounding barringon the flanks and on the back. flightof the Hairy. These bchaviorial Thisbarring can be quite pronounced Juvenile woodpeckers usually have pointscan't be illustrated, but they inmany from the Maritime Provinces a gccky air, a slightclumsiness that helpto define the appearance ofeach andfrom far western Canada. setsthem apart from their elders. So speciesfor the observerwho has In Figure3, I illustratea juvenile anexperienced birder might spot an watchedboth. Hairyfrom Newfoundland with ycl- inexperiencedbird by its behavior lowcrown patch, barred flanks, and alone.This brings us back to where Acknowledgements barrcdback,abirdthatcasilycouldbc wc started,to the Hairy-versus-I'm grateful toMary LeCroy atthe American mistakenfor a Three-toed.While Downyproblem, because practiced Museum ofNatural History, NewYork, and to Tom HueIsat theUniversity of Arizona, suchextreme examples arenot corn- birders often get clues from what the Tucson,forallowing accessto those collec- mon,they do exist. To identify this woodpeckerisdoing atfirst glance. I tionswhile I was researching thiscolumn. 314- American Birds, Summer 1993