Episode Number
79
Episode Show Notes / Description
Downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens).
The little woodpecker with a cascading call.
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- Downy woodpecker hammering by Wil Hershberger (ML507359)
- Downy woodpecker calls and foraging by Wil Hershberger (ML507352)
- Downy woodpecker cascading call by William W. H. Gunn (ML507357)
- Hairy woodpecker call by Wil Hershberger (ML507364)
Sources and more:
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker
- https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/downy-woodpecker
- Dobson, C., Kassenbaum, D., Oehmke, D., & Misewicz, M. (2023). Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois. Scissortail LLC.
- Peterson, R. T., & Peterson, V. M. (1980). A field guide to the birds: A completely new guide to all the birds of eastern and central North America (Fourth edition, completely revised and enlarged.). Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Sibley, D. (2016). Sibley birds East: Field guide to birds of eastern North America (2nd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf.
- Walton, R. K., & Lawson, R. W. (1989). Birding by Ear: Eastern/Central [Compact Disc]. On Eastern/Central birding by ear. Houghton Mifflin Co.
Transcript
This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”
Our smallest woodpecker leverages that small size to reach food that’s inaccessible to their larger cousins; twigs that would snap under the weight of a pileated or even a sapsucker are comfortably browsed by this little black and white bird. You may even find one clinging acrobatically to a leaning stem of last year’s goldenrod pecking open a gall on its stalk to get at the grub within. This is the downy woodpecker
The downy is comfortable browsing in a flock in the winter so you might find them with a smattering of nuthatches and chickadees in the woods; but be careful with that ID; the downy is very similar to the hairy woodpecker. There is a modest size difference; the downy is a little smaller and has a smaller beak in proportion to their head, but practically speaking the most reliable way to tell the difference is their call. The Downy’s cascades down and the hairy’s is flat and loud. Here’s the downy woodpecker again.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW
Our smallest woodpecker leverages that small size to reach food that’s inaccessible to their larger cousins; twigs that would snap under the weight of a pileated or even a sapsucker are comfortably browsed by this little black and white bird. You may even find one clinging acrobatically to a leaning stem of last year’s goldenrod pecking open a gall on its stalk to get at the grub within. This is the downy woodpecker
The downy is comfortable browsing in a flock in the winter so you might find them with a smattering of nuthatches and chickadees in the woods; but be careful with that ID; the downy is very similar to the hairy woodpecker. There is a modest size difference; the downy is a little smaller and has a smaller beak in proportion to their head, but practically speaking the most reliable way to tell the difference is their call. The Downy’s cascades down and the hairy’s is flat and loud. Here’s the downy woodpecker again.
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW