This is the smallest woodpecker in North America, at up to seven inches in length, with a wingspan of about a foot. It has a white belly and back, with black wings spotted with white. The head has a black cap and black stripe through the eye and white above and below. Males show a red patch at the back of the head, and juveniles of both sexes have red crown feathers.
The Downy is smaller than the similarly colored Hairy woodpecker, which is up to 10″ long. But when observing only one bird in the forest, the size difference may not be very apparent or allow easy identification. Downy woodpeckers can be distinguished from Hairy woodpeckers in the field vocally by their calls and drumming. The call of the downy woodpecker is an easily recognized, rapidly-descending “kee, kee, kee” trill as well as a short “pik” call. The call of the Hairy is a short, rapid chee-chee-chee, with lot of chirping in between.
The drumming of the Downy is a moderate staccato beat at a rate of about 15 beats per second, whereas the Hairy drumming is more rapid at about 25 beats per second, and sounding more like a steady vibration than individual strikes. When trying to distinguish a silent Downy from a Hairy woodpecker, the beak is the easiest giveaway. The Downy has a rather diminutive beak that is noticeably short in relation to the head. The Hairy, in contrast, has a very stout beak that is about the same length as the head. Interestingly, considering the similar color patterns in the two species, the Downy and Hairy woodpeckers are not very closely related.
The Downy woodpecker is common year-round across most of the United States and Canada, extending into southern Alaska, but is absent in the deserts along the southwestern U.S. border. It occurs, but less commonly, in the Great Plains and arid scrublands of southwestern states. Downy woodpeckers are found in a wide variety of forest settings, favoring deciduous trees in old growth stands, regenerating hardwood forests, and suburban woodlots and yards. In northern coniferous forests they tend to be found most frequently in willow and aspen groves.
They forage on tree limbs and trunks exposing insects on and under the bark, actively moving around over and under tree limbs, often hanging upside down. They also feed on fruit berries and seeds. They provide an economic benefit by consuming moths of corn boring insects, reducing agricultural crop losses. Downy woodpeckers may also visit residential feeders in the winter.
Downy woodpeckers excavate their own cavities in dead trees or large limbs. Both parents incubate the three to six eggs and after hatching they gather insects and bring them back to the nest to feed the nestlings, which fledge after about three weeks.
The species is common and generally stable or increasing. The Audubon Society predicts that further global warming will result in range reductions in the southern part of the species’ distribution, particularly in parts of Texas, western Oklahoma, northern New Mexico, western Kansas, and the eastern prairies of Colorado.
Photos taken using the Nikon P900 camera.
