From Opus

Photo by: Gary Clark
Lamoille, Nevada, USA

Picoides pubescens

[edit] Identification

Length: 5.75 inches (smallest woodpecker in North America.)

• Very small black and white woodpecker
• Very short bill
• Mostly black head set off by broad white supercilium and lower border to auriculars
• Black nape
• White back
• Black wings with white spotting on coverts and flight feathers
• White underparts
• Black rump
• Black tail with white outer tail feathers barred with black
  

Adult male: Red spot on nape

Artwork by fishercl

[edit] Distribution

Resident from Alaska across Canada, south throughout United States except Southwest. Can also be found east of Newfoundland and Labrador, on the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

There are 6 subspecies:

• P. p. pubescens:

• Kansas to North Carolina, south to eastern Texas and Florida

• P. p. medianus:

• Central Alaska to Newfoundland and central US (east of Rocky Mountains)

• P. p. leucurus:

• Rocky Mountains (south-eastern Alaska to south-western US)

• P. p. glacialis:

• Coastal south-eastern Alaska

• P. p. gairdnerii:

• Coastal western British Columbia to north-western California

• P. p. turati:

• Interior Washington, Oregon and California

[edit] Habitat

Their breeding habitat is forested areas, mainly deciduous, across most of North America to Central America.

The Downy is a familiar bird in its range, especially in winter, when many move into the suburbs and feed on suet at bird feeders. It is often seen in the mixed flocks of chickadees, nuthatches, creepers, and kinglets that gather in the woods during migration and winter.

[edit] Behaviour

As with other woodpeckers, the male is larger than the female and chisels deep into wood with its longer, stronger bill, whereas the female pries under the bark with her shorter bill. Thus a pair is able to share the food resources without competing with one another.

[edit] Breeding

They nest in a tree cavity, excavated by the nesting pair in a dead tree or limb.

[edit] Vocalisation

A quiet "pik" or a descending rattle.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.

• List of references

[edit] External Links