Downy Woodpecker

Picoides pubescens

Order PICIFORMES - Family PICIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The smallest and most common American woodpecker, the Downy Woodpecker is found throughout most of North America from Alaska to Florida. It lives in a variety of habitats from wilderness forests to urban backyards, and comes readily to bird feeders.

Cool Facts

• The Downy Woodpecker is a frequent member of mixed species flocks in winter. The woodpecker is less vigilant looking for predators and more successful at foraging when in such a flock. It will readily join chickadees or other birds mobbing a predator, but it remains quiet and does not actually join in the mobbing.

• Male and female Downy Woodpeckers may stay in the same areas in winter, but they divide up where they look for food. The male feeds more on small branches and weed stems, and the female feeds more on large branches and the trunks of trees. Males appear to keep the females from foraging in the more productive spots. When the male is removed from a woodlot, the female shifts her foraging to the smaller branches.

• The Downy Woodpecker uses sources of food that larger woodpeckers cannot, such as the insect fauna of weed stems. It will cling to goldenrod galls to extract the gall fly larvae. The woodpecker prefers larger galls, and uses the exit tube constructed by the larva to extract it.

• The Downy Woodpecker varies gradually across its range. Larger birds are found in the north and at higher elevations, while smaller birds live in the south and at lower elevations. Western woodpeckers tend to have less white in the wings and less black on the outer tail feathers.

Description

• Size: 14-17 cm (6-7 in)
• Wingspan: 25-30 cm (10-12 in)
• Weight: 21-28 g (0.74-0.99 ounces)

• Small woodpecker.
• Black and white plumage.
• Plain white back.
• Small, pointed bill.

• Mostly black upperparts.
• Center of back white.
• White stripes on face above and below black ear coverts.
• Black line down side of neck.
• White spots on wings.
• Tail black in center with white outer tail feathers.
• Outermost tail feather on each side barred with black.
• Underside completely white; may be grayish.

Sex Differences

Male with red patch on back of head, female with black patch.

Male

Red patch on rear of crown, at back of white eyestripe.

Female

White eyestripe without red at rear.

Immature

Juvenile male with red forehead and without red on back of head. Juvenile female similar, but usually lacks red.

Similar Species

• Hairy Woodpecker is very similar in plumage, but is larger, has a proportionately larger bill, a longer and more distinct black mark on the shoulder, and in most populations, has completely white outer tail feathers. (But beware downies that do not spread their tails and keep the black bars hidden.) For more information on distinguishing these species click here.
• Nuttall's and Ladder-backed woodpeckers have striped backs.

Sound

Call note a sharp "pik." Also a harsh rattle or whinny.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from western Alaska across Canada, southward to southern California, northern Arizona, and eastern Texas to Florida.

Habitat

Open deciduous woodlands, especially in riparian areas. Common in human-modified habitats, such as orchards, parks, and residential areas.

Food

Insects and other arthropods, fruits, seeds, some cambium, sap.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages by gleaning, probing, prying, tapping, and excavating. Feeds on insects in stems of weeds and galls.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest in cavity in trees or dead branch. No structure put in cavity.

Egg Description

Color: White.

Size: 18.71-19.54 mm x 14.51-15.43 mm
(.7-.8 in x .57-.6 in)

Incubation period: 12 days.

Clutch Size

3-8 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Naked and helpless.
Chicks fledge in 18-21 days.

Conservation Status

Widespread and abundant. May be slightly increasing in some areas.

Other Names

Pic mineur (French)

Sources used to construct this page:

Jackson, J. A., and H. R. Ouellet. 2002. Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). In The Birds of North America, No. 613 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.