The Downy Woodpecker :: Woodpeckers Birds Animals Wildlife Essays

The Downy WoodpeckerhabitatDownies take home in the United States and Confederate Canada. They have been save at elevations of up to 9,000 feet. The downies are not deep-forestedbirds, preferring deciduous steers. 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 wont find themis deserts. The close to inviting human dwelling sites are woodlands broken up bylogged patches in a waterside area. Downies also enjoy open shrubbery withgroves of young deciduous trees.Call(s) similar the hairy peckerwood, the downy beats a tattoo on a dry resonanttree branch. This drumming is the downys song, though they do take external some vocalnoises. They have several single-syllable call notes which include tchick, an in-your-face social note a tick and a tkhirrr, which are depress notes. There isalso a location call, known as a whinny, made up of a dozen or to a gr eater extent tchicksall strung together.Scientific NamesThe downy nebs scientific progress to is Picoides pubescens. Thereare also half dozen particular downies with six particular scientific names all fromdifferent regions of the United States and southern Canada which I have listedbelowsouthern downy / Dryobates pubescens Gairdners woodpecker / Gairdneri pubescensBatchelders woodpecker / Leucurus pubescens northern downy / Medianus pubescensNelsons downy / Nelsoni pubescens willow woodpecker / Turati pubescensThe downy woodpecker is sometimes reffered to as little downy.Behavior Towards HumansThe downy is unimpeachably the friendliest woodpecker. A bird loverin Wisconsin described downies at their aliment station The downies will backdown to the suet container on the basswood tree while I sit only a few feet awayon the patio. Even when I walk right up to them, most downies will not fly away,but will simply race around the backside of the tree trunk and peek around to check o ut what I am doing. If I press them, they will hop up the backside of the treetrunk and then fly to a high branch.FoodBesides being friendly, downy woodpeckers are our good friends for some other reason. Most of the plant louses they eat are considered destructive to mansorchards and forest products. About 75% of their diet is made up of animalmatter gleaned from bark and crevices where insect larvae and eggs lie hidden.While standing on that unique tripod of cardinal legs and and a tail, downies hitchup and down tree trunks in search of a whole laundry list of insect pests. Withtheir additional chisel-like bills and horny, sticky tongues, downies are adept atplucking out great poesy of beetle grubs, insect cocoons, or batches of insect