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Male
Downy Woodpecker by Wolfgang
Wander
A common resident in Central
Indiana's wooded urban and suburban
locations is the Downy Woodpecker.
Very similar in features and
coloring to the Hairy Woodpecker,
the Downy has a shorter beak
and smaller body size. Wings
are black and white "checkered"
and outer tail feathers are
white with black bars. The head
is striped black and white and
males are distinguished by the
red patch on the back of the
head. Pairs court in late winter
and typically nest in cavities
of dead or dying trees. Males
do the main work of excavating
and forming the cavity with
the female assisting . Females
lay 4-7 eggs and may breed more
than once a season. Eggs hatch
in 12 days and nestlings remain
in the nest for 17-18 days before
they take their first flight.
The median lifespan is 2 years
however, tagging studies in
the San Francisco area have
documented a Downy at nearly
12 years when it was captured.
The Downy's main diet is insects
and thus are beneficial to the
environment for the large number
of damaging insects they control.
They are ideally equipped to
excavate boring insect larvae
from wood with their long tongue
coated with a sticky saliva.
At the backyard feeders they
prefer suet but also eat black
oil sunflower seeds, peanuts
and chunky peanut butter.
Consider participating in Project
FeederWatch to count
birds at your feeders as often
as once per week and send your
observations to scientists at
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
These reports help their scientists
better understand population
trends and movements of our
favorite backyard birds.
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