The Downy Woodpecker :: Woodpeckers Birds Animals Wildlife Essays

The Downy Woodpecker Habitat Downies take home in the United States and southern Canada. They have been recorded at elevations of up to 9,000 feet. The downies are not deep-forested birds, preferring deciduous trees. Open woodlands, river groves, orchards, swamps, farmland, and suburban backyards are all favorite haunts of the downy. Downies will also nest in city parks. About the only place you won't find them is deserts. The most attractive human dwelling sites are woodlands broken up by logged patches in a waterside area. Downies also enjoy open shrubbery with groves of young deciduous trees. Call(s) Like the hairy woodpecker, the downy beats a tattoo on a dry resonant tree branch. This drumming is the downy's song, though they do make some vocal noises. They have several single-syllable call notes which include tchick, an aggressive social note; a tick and a tkhirrr, which are alarm notes. There is also a location call, known as a "whinny", made up of a dozen or more tchicks all strung together. Scientific Names The downy woodpecker's scientific name is Picoides 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: southern downy / Dryobates pubescens Gairdner's woodpecker / Gairdneri pubescens Batchelder's woodpecker / Leucurus pubescens northern downy / Medianus pubescens Nelson's downy / Nelsoni pubescens willow woodpecker / Turati pubescens The downy woodpecker is sometimes reffered to as "little downy." Behavior Towards Humans The downy is unquestionably the friendliest woodpecker. 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. Even when I walk right up to them, most downies will not fly away, but will simply scoot around the backside of the tree trunk and peek around to see what I am doing. If I press them, they will hop up the backside of the tree trunk and then fly to a higher branch. Food Besides being friendly, downy woodpeckers are our good friends for another reason. Most of the insects they eat are considered destructive to man's orchards and forest products. About 75% of their diet is made up of animal matter gleaned from bark and crevices where insect larvae and eggs lie hidden. While standing on that unique tripod of two legs and and a tail, downies hitch up and down tree trunks in search of a whole laundry list of insect pests. 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