You are not following the FeederWatch protocol.  You only record the
highest number of each species seen AT THE SAME TIME.  Otherwise your data
isn't comparable to other sites or for that matter for species you see that
you can't individually identify.  Yes 7-8 Downy Woodpeckers seen at the same
time would be a higher count than expected.

Paul Woodward
Fairfax City, VA 22032




I bird count for Cornell/project feederwatch and when I enter my data for
DOWNY WOODPECKERS I keep getting a msg that asks me to double check my data
because the numbers are too high.  I usually have about 7-8 as a count for
these.  No, they're not usually in the yard together but the males or
females are in at one time and when I count them then add together the sex
count the number is high according to Cornell's site.  My question is do
others have a high number of these birds?  Is this unusual or normal?  We
have 3 plain suet feeders attached to a couple trees and they usually feed
on those.  We also have two flavored suet feeders and a peanut butter feeder
but they hardly use them.

Thanks
Michelle Dunn
Catonsville, MD