Birds at the Feeder

Yesterday I showed you some views from my studio, and you may have noticed the bird feeders in our back yard.  Actually, I think you've seen them more than once before!  Today I'm posting photographs of some of the many birds that visit the seed, suet, and peanuts.

The first one was a special delight; it always is when there is a surprise in a photograph.  Can you find what I didn't realize I'd caught "on film"?  There are six birds in the picture; can you find them all?

In the next one, you'll see one of the woodpeckers that visit us.  They love peanuts!  Wonder if they're related?

And the juncos - almost as delightful to watch as the chickadees.

Now there are two woodpeckers.  They look so much alike it's hard to tell them apart. 

 I cropped the next photo so you could see the two of them more closely.  It's still hard to see a difference, isn't it?  Okay, there is a clear size difference.  The one on the left is the Downy woodpecker (6") which is the size of a sparrow and on the right is the Hairy woodpecker (9") "robin-sized".  But size doesn't necessarily help if you see only one of them at a time (though eventually you'll be able to tell if its the little one or the big one).  

The Downy has a shorter, thicker looking bill (if you're close enough to see it or are using binoculars at just the right time) than the Hairy.  My bird book tells me that the Hairy has an unspotted white back, but I've never been able to pick up on that.

If you've learned a good way to identify these woodpeckers, please let me know!