(Please see picture gallery below)  The bird of the month for July is the Downy Woodpecker.  The smallest and, arguably, cutest, of our local hammerheads, Picoides pubescens is a relatively common bird in the urban environment; they make their living probing dead wood for insects and spiders. They have a cheery little chirp call. If you get a decent look at the head, you can differentiate Downy from its  larger lookalike, Hairy, by the bill length: Downy’s bill is about half as long as its head, and looks even shorter; Hairy’s is  more than half as long as its head, and looks even longer. Come hear more about this small woodpecker at our July meeting!( (Photographer’s please note that next month’s August 2013 Bird will be the PILEATED WOODPECKER)