Downy Woodpecker

Picoides pubescens

Photo by: Gary Clark
Location: Lamoille, Nevada, USA

Illustration by fishercl

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.

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.

Taxonomy

There are 11 subspecies.

Habitat

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

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.

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

Vocalisation

A quiet "pik" or a descending rattle.

External Links

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