In this case, all the pair has to do in the spring is to renew their pair bonds. Some ornithologists believe that downy woodpeckers retain the same mate as long as they live. So early does this drumming begin that it is not unusual to hear it on sub-zero mornings. It is also the first attempt to attract a mate. The tapping is no longer simply an effort to find food but a means of communicating to other downies that this is “my” territory. Their normal tap, tap, tap becomes a quite different unbroken trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, lasting several seconds. After spending the winter alone, the downies seem to come to life in early February, moving more quickly and taking more interest in their own species. Regardless of the elevation, downy woodpeckers begin thinking about nesting earlier than most birds and several months before they actually nest. The downies have barred outer tail feathers not found on the hairies. A small scarlet patch appears on the lower back of the head. A black cap adorns each, below which there is a white stripe. The tail, wings, and back of both the downy and hairy woodpeckers have a black hue intermingled with white spots. However, both will feed at feeders in the winter months, on suet especially. The downy is most likely to be the one that you see at the feeder since the hairy keeps more to the forest than the downy. The downy is about 2/3 the size of the hairy. The downy will have a much shorter, stubbier bill. There are really only two ways to distinguish the downy and the hairy. Both range across the same territory except the lower southwest where the downy is less often seen. The downy and the hairy are often confused since their markings are quite similar. The downy can be separated from all other woodpeckers ~ except the hairy ~ by the broad, white strip down its back. It is only about the size of a house sparrow at six inches tall. The downy, smallest of the woodpecker clan, is not even as big as a robin. The downy woodpecker gets its name downy because of its soft fine feathers. In fact, Confer’s studies show that the goldenrod grubs form an important part of the woodpecker’s winter diet. They discovered the downy’s little jackhammer is just the tool needed to drill a hole in the side of the one to two-inch goldenrod gall and extract the tiny grub contained inside. John Confer and his students at Ithaca College have studied the downy woodpecker’s use of goldenrod galls as a source of food. Acorns, beachnuts, and walnuts are particular favorites.ĭr. Downies also eat the seeds of oaks, apples, hornbeams, sumac, hickory, and beach. 25% of a downy’s diet are plants made up of the berries of poison ivy, mountain ash, Virginia creeper, serviceberry, tupelo, and dogwood. They also eat spiders, snails, ants, beetles, weevils, and caterpillars, with other local insects included. With their special chisel-like bills and horny, sticky tongues, downies are adept at plucking out great numbers of beetle grubs, insect cocoons, or batches of insect eggs. While standing on that unique tripod of two legs and a tail, downies hitch up and down tree trunks in search of a whole laundry list of insect pests. About 75% of their diet is made up of animal matter gleaned from bark and crevices where insect larvae and eggs lie hidden. Most of the insects they eat are considered destructive to man’s orchards and forest products. Foodīesides being friendly, downy woodpeckers are our good friends for another reason. A bird lover in Wisconsin described downies at their feeding station: “The downies will back down to the suet container on the basswood tree while I sit only a few feet away on the patio. The downy is unquestionably the friendliest woodpecker. The downy woodpecker is sometimes referred to as “little downy.” Behavior towards Humans Gairdner’s woodpecker / Gairdneri pubescensīatchelder’s woodpecker / Leucurus pubescens There are also six particular downies with six particular scientific names all from different regions of the United States and southern Canada which I have listed below: The downy woodpecker’s scientific name is Picoides pubescens. There is also a location call, known as a “whinny”, made up of a dozen or more tchicks all strung together. They have several single-syllable call notes which include “tchick”, an aggressive social note which are alarm notes. This drumming is the downy’s song, though they do make some vocal noises. Like the hairy woodpecker, the downy beats a tattoo on a dry resonant tree branch.
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