It is a solitary diurnal bird, but sometimes, it forages in loose flocks. Downy Woodpecker is an acrobatic forager. It also probes into crevices, or excavates holes into wood to find food. To feed, Downy Woodpecker gleans insects from tree-trunk, shrubs and large weeds. Juvenile female is similar, but lacks red. Juvenile male has red forehead, but lacks red patch on rear crown. Legs and feet are pale grey.įemale lacks red patch on head. Male has a small red patch on the rear crown.īill is thick, short, black and chisel-shaped, but smaller than other woodpeckers. It has whitish feathers above the bill, black cheeks, and thin black moustache extending to the neck and upper sides of breast. Head is black, and we can see a white stripe above and below eyes. Tail is black, with white outer feathers, and sometimes barred with black. It has black and white plumage, with white in the middle of the back, and also on breast and belly, where white becomes greyish. a downy woodpecker’s tongue is long and barb-tipped (not as long as the flicker’s tongue, which is the bird record-holder!) The tongue wraps around inside the skull when not extending to pry out bark insects, then flicks out far beyond the bill tip when feeding.Downy Woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker of North America. They have bristly feathers around their beaks to trap flying sawdust before the birds breathe it in through their nostrils. How can they hammer away without getting concussed? They have thickened skulls with special spongy, shock-absorbing layers around the brain and the eyes.Īnatomy-wise, that’s not the only remarkable feature that these birds have evolved to suit their unique lifestyle. The nest is often excavated from the underside of an angled dead branch or snag and takes a lot of drilling. The female lays from three to eight eggs, both parents take nest duty, and both supply food to the nestlings when they hatch and until they leave the nest some eighteen to twenty-one days later. Predators? Think domestic cats, hawks, squirrels, snakes, and rats.ĭowny woodpeckers nest in tree cavities. Mixed flocks are aware of all alarm calls-even from other species they travel with-and the whole feathered gang teams up to mob any dangerous intruder. When predators lurk, some safety comes with numbers. Many pairs of eyes are an asset in food finding. But in winter, downy woodpeckers do associate with other small birds as they forage, forming loose mixed flocks with chickadees and nuthatches. It is said, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Downy woodpeckers don’t flock with masses of their own kind. ![]() A downy has a small, dainty bill, about half the length of its head a hairy has a heftier, thorn-like bill almost as long as the width of its head from front to nape. How do these two species differ besides size? The best clues are the bill size and shape. Both have similar feet with two toes forward, two toes back, to help them climb. ![]() Both species have similar foraging behaviors, although the smaller downies seem to select smaller, slimmer, higher branches, but not always. While feasting, they stay put and allow watchers to study what distinguishes them from their near look-alikes, hairy woodpeckers (which are roughly 1/3 larger than downies).īoth species are black and white, males have red on the head, and both species have stiff, pointed tail feathers that help brace them as they spiral up trunks or when they hammer away to get food or chisel out nests. They are common feeder birds and will consume black oil sunflower seeds, peanuts, millet, and suet. ![]() ![]() These small insect eaters nimbly circle tree trunks and branches to probe for edibles in the bark-and equally nimbly vanish around the trunk when you try to look at them! When they leave for the next food tree, they move with undulating flight.ĭowny woodpeckers are found in woodlands, orchards, parks, riparian areas, and leafy back yards, and although never numerous, they are year-round residents. But the downy, our smallest woodpecker, is only 5 ½ to 6 ½ inches, somewhere between the size of a sparrow or robin. A fast (up to 20 hits a second), insistent drumming may echo from a nearby tree, power pole, or even a metal chimney pipe (to ear-shattering effect) as the bird communicates, tries to attract a mate, or claims territory. A slow and intermittent “tap-tap-tap” hints the bird is feeding. A sharp “pik, pik,” or a shrill, descending whinny call catches your attention. Sounds may first alert birders to the presence of a downy woodpecker.
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