2026—A Hairy Not a Downy

Along the boardwalk at Sax-Zim Bog’s Winterberry Bog Trail last week, a Hairy Woodpecker puffed up his feathers against the cold. He clung to the side of a pine tree covered with tiny fungi. He was after grubs and other edibles lodged in and under the bark, not the mushroomy things. A Downy Woodpecker was also hanging around the area at the same time. I had to check the length of the beak to know whether it was a Hairy or a Downy. The Hairy Woodpecker’s beak is a bit longer than the Downy’s beak.