365 Urban Species: #014 Downy Woodpecker

[urbpan]

Urban species #014, Downy woodpecker Picoides pubescens

The downy woodpecker is familiar to anyone who has ever bought a suet cage. North America's smallest and most common woodpecker has adapted well to the strange human habit of hanging lumps of cattle fat outside their windows. About three-quarters of the continent is home to the downies, including many urban areas. Teach yourself to recognize their descending whinny, and you'll be amazed how often these little woodpeckers are nearby. Their small size helps their urban success; they are more able to use birdfeeders and suet cages than larger woodpeckers, and they can extract insect prey from smaller plants than trees, such as the stems of weeds.

Woodpeckers peck to find food, make nest holes, and to make noise. The drumming of a woodpecker can be a breeding or territorial display. Living around humans gives downy woodpeckers a range of amplifying surfaces to hammer on. If a dead branch is good, aluminum siding or a gutter or the sheet metal on a chimney must be even better.

Downy woodpeckers are seen year-round even in northern cities.



top two pictures by cottonmanifesto


A downy flutters to keep its balance on a phragmites reed.