Downy woodpecker class9/1/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() Southeastern birds are smaller and slightly grayer below than boreal and northeastern birds. The 7 subspecies differ mainly in size (northern birds generally larger), underpart color (white to gray tinged), amount of black in rectrices, and amount of white spotting in wings. Juvenile: as in other pied woodpeckers, both sexes have a pale red patch in the center of the crown, more extensive in male. Male has a small red nuchal patch, lacking in the female. ![]() Outer tail feathers white with limited black spotting variable white spotting on the upperwing coverts and barring on the remiges. Underparts unmarked white (to grayish buff in some populations). Adult: black crown, auricular and malar upper back, scapulars and rump black, but a broad white stripe extends down the center of the back. The small size and often acrobatic foraging on small branches and twigs are distinctive, and the plumage pattern can be confused only with the hairy. In all respects it suggests a small version of the hairy woodpecker, both differing from our other species by the broad white stripe down the back. However, thinning forests benefits them as they do well in younger woodlands.Our smallest woodpecker, the downy is also among our most widespread and familiar species it is a confiding bird that often visits feeders. The shift from wooden fence posts to metal ones may have affected their populations. On the downy woodpecker, the bill is short and relatively stubby on the hairy woodpecker, it is longer and more slender.ĭowny woodpecker populations seem to be stable across the continent, as they have adapted well to the human-built environment. One of the more useful methods is to observe the bill. They have very similar markings, and while the hairy woodpecker is larger, this is only an effective means of identifying if the two birds are in proximity. The downy woodpecker may be easily mistaken for the hairy woodpecker, which is also native to Maryland. In winter, they may join other like-sized birds such as nuthatches and chickadees for protection from predators. The young leave the nest after about three weeks and may follow the parents for a few weeks after that before striking out on their own. In either case, incubation lasts about twelve days, and both male and female will feed the young with billfuls of insects. Information about incubation varies, with the Audubon Society saying that both male and female do so, while the Maryland DNR contends it is performed mostly by the male. They drop woodchips inside and the female will lay 3-8 white eggs measuring less than an inch across each. Of a tree, or human-made structures such as a wooden fence post. They may choose a dead tree, a dead portion After pairing up, they will excavate a nest, which may take up to two weeks to complete. The drumming can involve up to 17 impacts per second. Both use drumming to attract a mate, with the male gradually approaching the female. They will also consume berries and grains, sometimes perching on tall grasses to pick at seedheads.ĭuring the fall and early winter, males and females will forage in separate areas before pairing up to mate in late winter. During the spring and summer, they will mostly glean their food from the exteriors of trees, doing more tapping and excavating in the winter. Like many woodpeckers, they climb up and down trees, but given their light weight, they can also climb out onto branches and have been known to acrobatically revolve around them and hang upside down. It has apparently also developed a taste for the invasive emerald ash borer. Its natural diet consists mostly of insects, especially beetles and ants, along with native pests such as fall webworms, bark beetles, and tent caterpillars. They are often found in suburban yards as well, visiting backyard bird feeders during the winter, especially if the feeders offer suet. The species can be found in Maryland year-round, inhabiting both wilderness areas and regenerated woodlands, and generally prefers open woodlands of deciduous trees. The downy woodpecker’s size is between that of a sparrow and a robin, and has been compared to that of a chipmunk, but it is well-adapted to a wide variety of habitats across the state and the continent, only avoiding the arid Southwest. That is certainly the case for the downy woodpecker, which is the smallest of the species that calls Maryland home. ![]() Unlike soaring or roosting birds like hawks or owls, woodpeckers tend to be more elusive, and you may have them in your woods and not even know it. They are sometimes easier to hear than to see you may hear them as you walk through a woodland on a calm late fall or winter day without actually seeing them among the bare trees, or you may get a glimpse of one flying past without being able to identify it. Maryland is home to seven species of woodpeckers. ![]()
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