Over the last few days, I've noticed a female hairy woodpecker around our
suet feeder who is a vivid black and white, like the birds from east of the
Cascades. She often visits with a male, who is the classic Pacific dirty
grey, and the contrast is dramatic. It leaves me wondering if anyone knows
just how genetically distinct the two populations are? Is she some kind of
recessive colouration for the western birds?



Louise Rutter

Kirkland