Common Name

Downy Woodpecker

Scientific Name

Dryobates pubescens

A sparrow-sized woodpecker that is mottled black and white with a small red patch on the top of the male’s head. The smallest, tamest, and most abundant of the eastern woodpeckers, the Downy Woodpecker forages on trees, picking the bark surface in summer and digging deeper in the winter.

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Aves
  • Order: Piciformes
  • Family: Picidae
  • Genus: Dryobates
  • Species: Dryobates pubescens
Habitat

Forest, Grassland, Urban, Mountain

Distribution

Common and widespread throughout North America

Seasonality

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

Abundance

Abundant

Activity Time

Diurnal

Tracks or Sign

Drumming and tapping sounds especially in winter and spring

Diet

Insects, nuts and berries

Behavior

Forages on trunks, limbs and branches of trees, sometimes upside down. Males and females forage in separate feeding areas in fall and early winter, then form monogamous pairs by late winter. More excavation and tapping occurs in winter.

Ecological Role

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Threats & Impacts

Notes

Downy Woodpeckers are the smallest woodpeckers native to North America.