this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2026
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Midwest USA, March 2026

Oly E-M1 @ 275mm, f/8, 1/640s, ISO 1000

Downys are too damn cute. I was lucky enough to catch the sun in his eye.

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[–] KevinFRK@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh very nice - are they as prone to being up too high, round the wrong side of the tree and other annoyances as what I guess are their English cousins, the Greater Spotted Woodpeckers? One from yesterday, that I'm happy to have an excuse to post (seeing as how I posted another a few days ago):

[–] Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

These types of woodpeckers are fascinating to me. Greater spotted, hairy, downy, red-cockaded, ladder-backed, Nuttall's, red-naped sapsucker, and yellow-bellied sapsucker are all easy to confuse. It makes you wonder where and when on the evolutionary chain did they diverge?

[–] KevinFRK@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

If you try looking up the Latin names, families etc. you get lost in a maze of changes and alternative forms! Downy and Greater Spotted probably diverge at the Genus level, but depends on your authority!

The UK's Lesser spotted woodpecker is in the same genus as Downy however!?!