Downy woodpecker

“ No better little bird comes to our orchards than our friend the downy woodpecker. He is the smallest and one of the most sociable of our woodpeckers,—a little, spotted, black-and-white fellow, precisely like his larger cousin the hairy, except in having the outer tail-feathers barred instead of plain. Nearly everything that can be said of one is equally true of the other on a smaller scale. ”

“ The drumming of the downy woodpecker on the dead limb of a maple near my bedroom window is as much a part of my spring as is the cheery cheerup of our robin. It's not that woodpeckers are voiceless that they drum. The flicker can be called in with his particularly rich repertoire to repudiate it vociferously. All day the downy woodpecker goes about pounding his head against tree trunks, with his bill chiseling out wood-boring insects to eat. ”

“ Perhaps a downy woodpecker does not really work any harder or faster for its food than any other bird, but somehow it seems that it does. I found one once on an inclined limb of a catalpa near the Highland Pines Inn and watched it work up ten feet in thirteen minutes. During that time downy’s blows fell good and hard at the average of a hundred strokes each minute except for a dozen momentary stops when a big bird flew over, or the downy scratched its head. ”

“ It eats cambium rarely and in small quantities.
Beal gives a list of 20 seeds and fruits found in the downy’s food.
Summarizing his findings, he says: “The foregoing discussion of the food of the downy woodpecker shows it to be one of our most useful species. The only complaint against the bird is on the score of disseminating the poisonous species of Rhus. However, it is fortunate that the bird can live on this food when it is difficult to procure anything else. The insect food selected by the downy is almost all of species economically harmful.” ”

“ The southern downy woodpecker, D. p. pubescens, is smaller, from the more southern parts of its range decidedly smaller, than the more northern bird, D. p. medianus, intergrading with it where the two ranges meet; the under parts are more brownish, and the white markings of the wings and tail will average of less extent.
The haunts of this woodpecker are similar to those of its northern relative, due allowance being made for the difference in environment. It is a more sociable species than the hairy woodpecker and less of a woodland bird. ”

“ The Downy Woodpecker is a member of a family of birds that has attracted man’s attention since the old days of superstition. Various myths have grown up around these birds; those of the American Indians are possibly the most interesting. Until recently, woodpeckers have been persecuted by the white man, because of their habit of pecking at trees which they were thought to kill. ”

“ Therefore each bird, in order to be sure of sufficient food for itself during the cold months, must maintain dominion over a territory large enough to support it through the winter.
Thus it comes about that in autumn the downy does perforce change its habits, or rather its attitude toward other birds of its species. The families disperse, and until the next breeding season each individual becomes a solitary bird, living in a restricted region, which it defends against trespass, resenting and repelling the approach of any other downy woodpecker. ”

“ Downy or logcock or goldenwing, a woodpecker is an independent chap that I have never been able to call fairly; not even in spring, when he is all ears for a mate or a rival. Like many other birds, he will come quickly to an excited and deceptive squeaking between my [81] fingers, but to my best drumming he remains deaf or indifferent.
“Ye haven’t the right combination, b’y,” said Bob when I gave over my fruitless attempt, and using his hunting knife as a hammer he began talking woodpecker-talk on a dry stub. ”

“ Late in October, 1882, a Downy Woodpecker excavated a hole in an old cherry tree, near a much used door in my yard, of the size and shape of its usual nest, and occupied it nightly for more than six weeks. In April following a pair of Bluebirds took possession and reared two broods of five birds each; but now, October 2d, ’83, the Woodpecker has occupied his old quarters for several nights and frequents the locality during the day. ”

“ The downy woodpecker, including six geographical forms, inhabits nearly the whole of the wooded parts of North America. It is absent or rare on the arid deserts and less common in the densely forested regions than some of the larger woodpeckers; its favorite country is the open woodland that covers a large part of the United States.
When civilized man invaded their territory, the downy woodpeckers of the Atlantic coast—the northern and southern races—did not retreat before his advance but accepted as a home the orchards and shade trees with which man replaced the forest. ”

“ The downy woodpecker, like most of its family, has an undulating flight when flying any considerable distance. The undulations are not deep, as in the plunging flight of a goldfinch; it gives rather the effect of a ship pitching slightly in a head sea. ”

“ They are generally seen in pairs, and are very active little birdies. In searching for food, insects and eggs, they move from tree to tree and thus pass the day. They rarely alight on the ground. Their 140 ordinary cry is a “Chick, chick,” repeated rapidly.
A somewhat larger Woodpecker, called the Hairy Woodpecker, is also an inhabitant of our woods in winter and much like the Downy Woodpecker in habits.
These are the principal and most common of our winter birds. ”

“ DRYOBATES PUBESCENS GAIRDNERI (Audubon) GAIRDNER’S WOODPECKER HABITS
This subspecies of our well-known downy woodpecker is one of those well-marked dark-colored races that occur in the humid Northwest coast region, ranging in the Transition Zone from southern British Columbia to Mendocino County, Calif. It is practically a small edition of the equally dark Harris’s woodpecker, which inhabits the same region. Its characters are so well marked that it was recognized and named by Audubon (1842) . Ridgway (1914) describes it as “similar to D. p. ”

“ Precisely like the Hairy Woodpecker, but noticeably smaller, with shorter, weaker bill, and the outer tail-feathers distinctly barred with black. The Downy is quieter, less energetic bird than its larger cousin ”

“ The popular belief is that every woodpecker is a sapsucker, and that every hole he digs in a tree is an injury to the tree. We have seen that every hole Downy digs is a benefit, and now we wish to learn why it is that the sapsucker’s work is any more injurious than other woodpeckers’ holes ”

“ He delights in boring holes in trees and, especially in the spring, he drills out complete nests which he probably has no intention of ever using. The hairy woodpecker has 68 almost precisely the same habits and colors as the downy, and differs only in size. He, also, is one of our winter residents, but not so commonly as the other. ”

“ United States east of the Plains, breeding from the Gulf States north in nearly all parts of their range, frequenting the more heavily timbered regions, where they nest in any place that attracts their fancy; in some localities they also commonly nest in telegraph poles. They are quite tame, and during the winter months come about yards and houses, the same as, and often in company with Downy Woodpeckers. Their eggs, which are laid during May, are glossy white, average in size 1.00 x .75 and number from four to six. ”

“ The young ones leave the nest before they can fly, and they may be seen exercising near it, learning to climb, to run around the trunk of their tree, and to cling to it upside down. You will be amused to watch them if you ever have the good fortune to be present at the frolics of a young family of woodpeckers.
“The great spotted woodpecker is about as large as a thrush. It has a wide red stripe across the nape of the neck, the upper part of the body is prettily spotted with pure white and deep black, and the under part is white as far as the abdomen, which is red, as is also the rump. ”

“ During the fall and winter they may be found traveling about from place to place in pairs, and are easily located by the call note, which somewhat resembles that of the red-bellied woodpecker, the habits of the two birds being in many respects quite similar. In the spring, when nesting, they become very noisy, and when approached, utter their alarm note with great vigor. I have never known this species to drum on a dead limb, as most of the other woodpeckers do. ”

“ The youngsters, especially,—awkward, saucy fellows that most of them are—sometimes get together and raise a fearful racket until some of the older ones, out-stentored, interpose.
Field marks.—The red-headed woodpecker is so conspicuously marked that it hardly could be mistaken for anything else. The large white areas in the wings and on the rump are much in evidence, in any plumage, especially in flight. The bright red of the entire head and neck and the plain white breast of the adult are also very conspicuous. ”

“ We know of no more interesting occupation than to observe this bird. It is fond of drumming on the stub of a dead limb whose center is hollow, and whose shell is hard and resonant. Upon such places it will drum for an hour at a time, now and then stopping to listen for a response from its mate or of some rival. At all times it is unsuspicious of man, and when engaged in excavating the receptacle for its nest it continues its busy chiseling, unheeding his near approach.
The Woodpecker is wrongfully accused of boring into the sound timber, and, by letting in the water, hastening its decay. ”

“ The young in the nest utter the usual hissing sound of young woodpeckers.”
Field marks.—Lewis’s woodpecker should be easily recognized. At a distance it appears likes a black bird, the back and the upper and lower surfaces of the wings being black, with no conspicuous white showing anywhere, and with a crowlike flight, broad wings and black tail. At short range, the greenish sheen of the back may glisten in the sunlight, and the silvery gray collar and pinkish underparts may be seen, as well as the gray upper breast and perhaps the red face. ”

“ Mother Nature is kind to woodpeckers. She [Pg 43] fits them out for life before they leave the seclusion of the nursery. There is no callow, immature period in the face of the world, no "green" age for the gibes or superior airs of elders. A woodpecker out of the nest is a woodpecker in the dress and with the bearing of his fathers,—dignified, serene, and grown up.
As the sweet June days advanced, the young bird in the oak-tree grew bolder. ”

“ Ralph Hoffmann (1927) says that “in the breeding season the Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker makes a very loud rolling sound by drumming on dry limbs and when concerned about the nest a shrill kick-er-uck-a-kick. The ordinary call is tschick or tschuck.” A note of greeting, possibly part of a love-making performance, is thus described by Mr. Achilles (1906) : “Several times when the female was getting grubs in the dead spruce near the hole, the male would fly from some distant tree and alight near her. ”

“ Field marks.—The American three-toed woodpecker is the only woodpecker likely to be seen in the northern woods that has a black back transversely barred with white, white under parts banded with black on the flanks, and a black crown, with or without a yellow crown patch; the yellow patch is very prominent in the adult male and less so in the young birds of both sexes, but lacking in the adult female. In flight the “ladderback” is more conspicuous than when the bird is at rest, and the tail flashes white. ”

“ They rarely sit vertically upright on a branch as do most other woodpeckers, but perch cross-wise with ease. They seldom climb up the trunk or branches, although perfectly capable of doing so, and are rarely heard tapping.” They perch occasionally on wires, an uncommon habit with other woodpeckers.
Major Bendire (1895) observes: “On its breeding grounds Lewis’s woodpecker appears to be a stupid and rather sluggish bird; it does not show nearly as much parental affection as most of the other members of this family, and is much less demonstrative. ”

“ This species and its sub-variety are the most widely known Woodpeckers in eastern North America, where they are known in different localities, by something like a hundred local names, of which
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White
WOODPECKERS
Pigeon Woodpecker and Yellow-hammer seem to be the most universal. They have the undulating flight common to all Woodpeckers and show the white rump patch conspicuously when flying. They are often found on the ground in pastures or on side hills, feeding upon ants; they are more terrestrial than any others of the family. ”

“ But it is far from clumsy in the air, and its skill in catching insects on the wing demonstrates [Pg 233] is mastery of the air in flight. It also indulges in some rather remarkable aerial evolutions, which one would hardly expect from a member of the woodpecker family. On this subject, Robert Ridgway (1877) writes:
In its general habits and manners this beautiful species resembles quite closely the eastern Red-headed Woodpecker (M. erythrocephalus) , being quite as lively and of an equally playful disposition. ”

“ The toes of this bird are placed two forward and two backward; and the tail consists of ten hard, stiff, and sharp-pointed feathers. A Woodpecker is often seen hanging by his claws, and resting upon his breast against the stem of a tree; when, after darting his beak against the bark, with great strength and noise, he runs round the tree with much alacrity, which manœuvre has made the country people suppose that he goes round{295} to see whether he has not pierced the tree through, though the fact is, the bird is in search of the insects, which he hopes to have driven out by his blow. ”