This hairy woodpecker is the bird responsible for stripping the bark off ash trees across the region. This is not what has killed the trees, however. It is what the woodpecker is seeking that has done that, the larvae of the emerald ash borer, a small and very pretty, Buprestid beetle.

Hairy woodpeckers are overall, much larger than downy woodpeckers and they have a much longer bill. Seen side by side, the difference is striking, but there's no doubt that from a distance it can sometimes be difficult to tell them apart, particularly when one is just learning to ID birds.