HaIry Woodpecker vs Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpeckers are outnumbered by Downy Woodpeckers at our feeder. The two species are quite similar. Note the longer, thicker bill and the white tail feathers of the first image of a male Hairy. If you look carefully, you can see the the female Downy Woodpecker’s outermost tail feathers have black spots. 

Most birders were surprised when ornithologists concluded, using morphological, behavioral, and genetic evidence, that the two woodpeckers are not each other’s closest relatives. The Hairy is closer to Arizona and Strickland woodpeckers of Arizona and western Mexico. The Downy’s are most similar to Ladder-backed and Nuttall’s woodpeckers of California and northern Baja California (Jackson et al. 2018; Jackson and Ouellet 2018). Why have the two woodpeckers evolved such similar plumage? I suspect one factor n=may be that a black and white plumage with a white stripe down the back must be ideal for survival in snowy northern forests.

Downy Woodpecker

Another gray, snowy Minnesota day. Not much at the feeders except voracious Downy Woodpeckers. Identification is confirmed by the relatively small bill. If you look very closely, you can also see a black spot on one or two of the white outer-tail feathers. These spots are also typical for this species.

Ruddy Duck

On 25 December, most of our Northfield lakes are frozen. Only the Superior Avenue pond remains quasi-open. The pond is surrounded by hundreds of Canada Geese, Mallards, one goldeneye, one Hooded Merganser, and this female Ruddy Duck. According to Gerry Hoekstra, who found this duck the other day, very few winter records exist for our county. The turbulence behind the duck is caused by a goose landing. The Ruddy duck appeared to be sound asleep.

Bufflehead

When we visited Olympia this December, we found Buffleheads to be abundant. I suppose due to their black and white plumage, Buffleheads usually prove difficult for me to photograph. This drake drifted across Henderson Inlet, northeast of the city. The water reflected the sunny day and green forest. For a further discussion of Buffleheads, see one of my previous posts on this diving duck.

Olympic Gull

It turns out that Northwestern/American Crows are not the only trouble-makers in Olympia (see last post). I would have identified this gull as a Western Gull. Sibley assures us that Western Gulls never have extensive, dark head markings, like this gull. Instead, this winter-plumaged bird is a hybrid between a Western and a Glaucous-winged Gull. Western Gulls generally breed further south than do Glaucous-wings. Hybrids between the two “species” occur up and down the Pacific Coast. Almost all the gulls of this type in Washington are hybrids and are often referred to as Olympic Gulls. This bird guarded a grocery store parking lot in Olympia on 3 December 2018.

American Crow

Crows are abundant in Olympia. In my youth, birds in the coastal Pacific Northwest were called Northwestern Crows. They were identified by their location and by their relatively small size. The birds we saw did seem small. Recent studies, however, indicate that American Crows, which have moved into the Pacific Northwest, breed randomly with the smaller residents. As a result, pure Northwestern Crown may no longer exist. I am not sure why they are not lumped together as suggested by many ornithologists. I am sure my life list is about to shrink by one bird.

Spotted Towhee

Male and female Spotted Towhees fed under our son’s feeders when we visited Olympia in early December 2018. These birds used to be known as Rufous-sided Towhees. But this species was split into Eastern Towhees in the East and Spotted Towhees in the West, despite occasional hybridization in the centrals Great Plains. The birds in Olympia are a Pacific Northwest race known by their relatively dark backs.

California Scrub-Jay

Our journey to Olympia, Washington, in early December, was not a birding trip. California Scrub-Jays, however, greeted us at our son’s bird feeder. Olympia is at the northern end of this species’s range, which continues coastally through Baja California. The species used to be known as the Western Scrub-Jay. The coastal populations differ genetically, habitat, and color from birds in the American Southwest and in Mexico. These latter birds are now known as Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays. The two populations do interbreed where their ranges overlap. Evidence exists that the hybrids have poorer survivorship than pure-bred birds (Curry et al. 2007).

Hooded Merganser

Hooded Mergansers were common this December in both Olympia’s Capitol Lake and in Puget Sound. This drake appeared to be interested in the two hens he swam near. At one point, when the hens were not looking, he turned for some tail feather care. Tail-cocking by males is associated with pair bond maintenance. Usually tail-cocking is done by a male swimming ahead of a female. Pair bonds are seasonal, but form in mid-winter (Dugger et al. 2009).

Ring-necked Duck

Ring-necked Ducks also plied Capitol lake on 3 December 2018 in Olympia, Washington, on 3 December 2018. This duck is named for a seldom seen brown ring around their necks, In this photo, to my surprise, the ring neck is visible on the male, second from the right. This species, nevertheless, might be better named the Ring-billed Duck. Like wigeons, Ring-necked Ducks consume a variety of aquatic plants. The two species differ, however, in that the Ring-necked Ducks usually dive for their dinner.