About 20-25 days later the young will fledge and follow the parents for up to 3 weeks. Both parents will bring bill-fulls of insects to feed the young. Therefore, Downy chicks who hatch later have a high mortality rate. The chicks in the eggs who hatch first have a higher chance of survival since they can start begging for food sooner. Hatching is asynchronous, meaning the eggs will hatch within a few hours (or sometimes days) of each other. Incubation by both parents begins around when the last egg is laid. The female usually chooses a nest cavity with the male approving, which is usually in some part of a dead tree.Ī clutch size (number of eggs) for a Downie’s brood is usually 3-8 eggs. They may loop around the territory multiple times during this display. The butterfly flight includes the pair chasing each other through the trees with their wing held high and flapping slower,weaker wing beats. Bonding activities include drumming on separate trees until the male approaches, foraging together, and the butterfly flight. They have a few different courtship/bonding activities. Their chiseled bills helps them get right under the surface of the tree bark so they can pierce insect tunnels.ĭownies are monogamous and renew their pair bonds starting in the fall and continuing into the winter. Due to their small size, Downies not only forage on the trunk but on smaller limbs as well as weed stalks and shrubs. Sap consumption is more common in the winter and bark foragingoccurs more in the summer. Downies are common at backyard feeders where they may eat suet. Mainly insects, as well as seeds and berries. Open deciduous woodlands, orchards, shade trees, willow groves, backyards, and city parks Female Downy Woodpecker (Image by David Horowitz) They are more common in the East than the West. They are rarely seen in the Southwest United States. Male Downy Woodpecker (Image via )ĭownies are found throughout the majority of the United States and Canada, with the exception of extremely northern Canada. A Downie’s bill is about half the width of their heads. Their heads are boldly striped, and males have a red patch that the female lacks. Their underparts are white and their tails are mainly white with some black spots. Their upperparts are black with white checkered patterns on their wings and a white stripe down their backs. The little Downy is acrobatic, versatile, and found throughout most of the country.ĭowny Woodpeckers are black and white with straight chiseled bills and wide shoulders. Females lack the black “mustache” seen on males.īy Guest Contributor MELISSA BLOCK Also-see our video on identifying Downy vs.Today’s Woodpecker of the week is the smallest Woodpecker in North America: the Downy. Flickers will visit your suet, sunflower, and sometimes even thistle feeders. They do eat fruits and seeds, especially during the winter. Flickers eat mostly insects, especially ants and beetles. Although some of them migrate further south during the winter, a large number of Northern Flicker overwinter in MN. The Northern Flicker is our second largest woodpecker, at about 11-12”. If you’re lucky, you may also see them at your suet or peanut feeders. The Pileated Woodpecker also enjoys wild fruits and nuts like blackberries, sumac berries, poison ivy, dogwood berries. Their main diet consists of insects, including ants, beetle larvae, termites, flies, grasshoppers, and cockroaches. Pileated males have a red “mustache” and the females do not. The Pileated Woodpecker, at about 15-19”, is our largest woodpecker. The females’ nape is red, but they lack the red crown. They will frequently come to suet, peanut, and sunflower feeders. They also eat plenty of plant material, loving acorns, nuts, pinecones, as well as seeds from annual and perennial plants. The Red-bellied Woodpeckers, at about 9-11”, love insects, including spiders. Hairy Woodpeckers are frequently seen at suet feeders and sunflower seeds, especially during the winter months. About 20% of their diet consists of fruit and seeds. They also love insects, particularly wood-boring beetles, bark beetles, ants, and moth pupae. Just like the Downy Woodpecker, the males have the red patch on the back of their heads, while the females do not. The Hairy Woodpecker, is the oversized version of the Downy Woodpecker, measuring about 7-10”. About a quarter of their diet consists of plant materials like berries, acorns, and grains. Downies love beetle larvae that live inside wood or tree bark, as well as ants, caterpillars, and beetles. These woodpeckers remain with us all winter and are frequent visitors to our suet and sunflower feeders. The males have a small red patch on their back of their heads, females do not. The Downy Woodpecker, at about 7”, is the smaller version of the Hairy Woodpecker (I always remember that it’s “downsized”).
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