General

Downy Woodpecker: Small woodpecker with black-and-white upperparts and white underparts. Hindcrown patch is red. Tail is black with black-spotted white outer tail feathers. Female and juvenile are similar but without red patch on head.

Range and Habitat

Downy Woodpecker: Resident from Alaska across Canada and south throughout the U.S. except in the southwest. Preferred habitats include woodlands, parks, and gardens.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"pik"

Interesting Facts

 The Downy Woodpecker uses sources of food that larger woodpeckers cannot, such as the insect fauna on weed stems.

 As the smallest North American woodpecker, the Downy can drill cavities in dead trees or limbs that measure as little as 10 cm around. This means that it can live in a wider range of habitat than can larger woodpeckers.

 Males tend to feed in the tops of trees on branches that are small in diameter, females feed midlevel and lower on larger diameter branches.

 A group of woodpeckers has many collective nouns, including a "descent", "drumming", and "gatling" of woodpeckers.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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