Downy Woodpecker

 Dale, my partner for the Audubon Bird Count, was pretty knowledgeable when it came to birds.   He did acknowledge though that he had problems telling a downy woodpecker from a hairy woodpecker.  Often in books the first thing mentioned is that a downy is smaller than a hairy which is useless unless you see both species together.  I said it was easy to tell by the length of their beaks.  I told him I mentally pretend to smash the bird's beak straight back into it's head.  If the beak doesn't break through the back of the bird's head it's a downy.  If it would poke out the back of it's head, it's a hairy.  Realized then that my little perceptual representation might horrify someone devoted to birds.  Glanced over and he was looking at me thoughtfully.  Hopefully he was just adding my gimmick to his bird identification repertoire and not thinking that he was alone out in the country w/ a stranger who visualized mutilating small animals.