Warner Nature Center

Bird Banding – Bird Notes

Bird Downy Woodpecker

Family Picidae - Woodpeckers
Code DOWO
Description Smallest and most common woodpecker in North America.
Plumage Basic
Males have a red patch on the back of the head.
HY birds have red on top of head, males with red extending past eye.
Bill Shape Small, pointed and chisel-like.
Diet Forage on trees, gleaning, probing, prying, tapping and excavating the bark surface in
summer and digging deeper in winter. Mainly eat insects, but also seeds, suet and
berries; also some cambium and sap. Come readily to suet, seed and peanut feeders.
Migration Route Year-round resident.
Habitat Forested areas, mainly deciduous. Common in human-modified habitats, as orchards,
parks and residential areas. Roost in tree cavities in winter.
Nest Type Nest is built in a cavity in a dead tree or limb, excavated by the nesting pair. No nest
structure per se is put in cavity.
Clutch Size 3-8 eggs
Incubation Males develop brood patches and share the incubation responsibilities with the
females.
Behavior
Calls & Songs Call: Sharp, flat “pik”. Also a rapid whinny of notes, descending in pitch.
Song:
Other adaptations Zygodactyl toes (two in front and two in back) allow tight vertical grips.
Stiff tail feathers and feet form a tripod that braces against the tree as the bird
hammers away.
Woodpecker skull encloses the brain so tightly it cannot move, avoiding concussions.
While feeding, a woodpecker often taps lightly on a dead limb, cocks its head and
listens for sounds of grubs scurrying away or chewing on wood.
It is while grub hunting that the incredible capabilities of the woodpecker tongue come
into play. Galleries formed in trees by wood-boring beetle larvae (like the one in the
display area) are often extensive and are located just beneath the outer layer of wood.
When the woodpecker’s bill hits an insect gallery, it extends its tongue and probes
around. When it locates a grub, the woodpecker skewers the prey with its tongue, the
tip of which is hard and sharply pointed. After the tip penetrates the larva, tiny rear-
facing barbs grab hold and ensure the woodpecker doesn’t lose its tasty morsel as it
withdraws its tongue.
In order to probe around the insect galleries, a woodpecker’s tongue must be longer
than its bill, generally at least 3-4 times the length of the bill. The long tongue is
“stored” by wrapping around the woodpecker’s skull.
Banding Data
Cool Trivia Virtually identical to the slightly larger Hairy Woodpecker. Easiest way to distinguish is
the size of the bill, the Hairy’s being much heavier and longer in comparison.