Last weekend we visited Miller Bird Refuge in Salt Lake City. It’s a very small little refuge, but I did see some bird activity. First, though, I would like to report that even though it is currently snowing, some plants are appearing. I have no idea what this is, but it’s pretty.
The water has melted.
And I saw a Downy Woodpecker!
Downy Woodpeckers look very similar to Hairy Woodpeckers, but they have a shorter beak. This is a female Downy Woodpecker. Males have a red spot on the back of their heads.
They’re supposed to like suet feeders and I even bought woodpecker specific suet, but alas I have not seen one eat from my feeder even though they hang out in the neighborhood.
I don’t have much experience with woodpeckers, but we did see Pileated Woodpeckers in California. I haven’t posted the pictures before because they’re not that great, but I think they’re worthy for a comparison.
Such a differently shaped head. This is a male. The females don’t have that red strip from the beak to the head.
Utah doesn’t have Pileated Woodpeckers but they have a large list of other ones, so I’ll keep trying with my suet feeder.
Spring is coming, it’s such a magical transformation. Beautiful Downy Woodpecker – keep your feeder going, they’ll come:).
I hope so! I’m very discouraged by the lack of suet excitement. But the other two feeders are crazy popular.
[...] you can’t make him out? It’s a good thing that I’ve already seen one before. Because that was the only picture I had of the Pileated Woodpecker. The third kind of [...]