Downy Woodpeckers do not migrate. An often acrobatic forager, this black-and-white woodpecker is at home on tiny branches or balancing on slender plant galls, sycamore seed balls, and suet feeders. And, birds in mountainous areas may move to lower elevations as the weather gets colder. Open woodlands, particularly deciduous woods and along streams. Naked, pink skin, a sharp egg tooth at the tip of bill; eyes closed, clumsy. Lutmerding, J. Simon and Schuster Inc., New York, USA. They typically choose a small stub (averaging around 7 inches in diameter) that leans away from the vertical, and place the entrance hole on the underside. Woodpeckers(Order: Piciformes, Family:Picidae). The downy woodpecker's bill is shorter than its head, whereas the hairy woodpecker's bill is approximately equal to head length. Downy Woodpeckers forage on trees, picking the bark surface in summer and digging deeper in winter. Link (2017). Sauer, J. R., D. K. Niven, J. E. Hines, D. J. Ziolkowski Jr., K. L. Pardieck, J. E. Fallon, and W. A. (2014). Also found in created habitats including orchards, parks, and suburbs. Their range consists of most of the United States and Canada, except for the deserts of the southwest and the tundra of the north. In the east this is the most familiar member of the family, readily entering towns and city parks, coming to backyard bird feeders. A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds, Including All Species That Regularly Breed North of Mexico. The downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 14 million, with 79% living in the U.S. and 21% in Canada. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. Find out more about what this bird likes to eat and what feeder is best by using the Project FeederWatch Common Feeder Birds bird list. Downy Woodpeckers are permanent residents in most areas, but the northernmost populations may move some distance south or to lower elevations in the winter. [12][13][14] The downy woodpecker is mainly black on the upperparts and wings, with a white back, throat and belly and white spotting on the wings. The downy woodpecker was described and illustrated with a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, which was published between 1729 and 1732. About a quarter of their diet consists of plant material, particularly berries, acorns, and grains. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA. Downy Woodpeckers are common feeder birds, eating suet and black oil sunflower seeds and occasionally drinking from hummingbird feeders.Back to top. Avian Conservation Assessment Database. Longevity records of North American birds. When having a dispute with another bird, Downy Woodpeckers fan their tails, raise their head feathers, and jerk their beaks from side to side. Occasionally, Downy woodpeckers will drink from oriole and hummingbird feeders as well. Why they evolved this way cannot be explained with confidence; it may be relevant that the species exploit rather different-sized foodstuffs and do not compete very much ecologically.[10][11]. Compared to other North American species its drums are slow. Downy Woodpeckers have the undulating flight pattern typical of many woodpecker species, alternating quick wingbeats with folding the wings against the body. [2] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the downy woodpecker, coined the binomial name Picus pubescens and cited Catesby's book.