Downy woodpeckers active at feeders

Joining the Northern flickers at backyard bird feeders are the smallest North American woodpeckers, the Downy. A pair has been invading a feeder filled with peanuts, with the female spending most of the time there and the male showing up several times each day. When they come together, they chase each other around as if they are playing tag before settling down to eat.

These small birds are fun to watch as they gather a peanut or a sunflower seed and move to the trunk of another tree before breaking it into pieces. Their bills have been described as forceps, as they wedge large pieces into a crevasse on a tree to break it up into edible sizes. Because of their size, they can eat where other woodpeckers cannot.

A male Downy woodpecker hiding from a Sharp-shinned hawk. | Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com

My favorite feeder for them is one with passageways through the feeder, allowing them to feed on the inside as well as on the outside. They are also able to hang upside-down on suet blocks like chickadees and nuthatches do. They are light enough to feed on weed stems and small branches where they harvest seeds and insects, and during the summer, they love to chase and harvest beetles.

Insects make up about 75% of their diet. During the winter, they will harvest spiders and insects under the large pieces of bark on the trees, as well as use seed feeders. They do not cache food but will look for food cached by chickadees and other birds to survive the cold weather.

Speaking about surviving, when a Sharp-shinned hawk shows up, and most of the birds fly away, Downies usually don’t. Often, they will go into the passageways of their favorite feeder, or they will flatten themselves on the trunk of a tree away from where the predator is perched. They will remain there until it is safe to fly away.

A Downy feeding on peanuts on their favorite feeder. | Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com

Both genders of these small woodpeckers look the same, except the male has a small red cap on the back of its head while the female does not. These woodpeckers are often mistaken for its larger cousin, the Hairy woodpecker. Hairys are just slightly larger but have a larger bill, and they do not have black dots on the under-feathers of their tail. If you get a chance to see the two species together, the Downy have very soft feathers (hence the name, downy), while the Hairy has hair-like feathers. The bill is usually the identifying feature between the two.

The Downy woodpeckers are year-round resident birds; they do not usually migrate unless weather or availability of food is scarce. Then, they will only migrate a short distance to fulfill their need.

You are lucky if you have a pair or two of these beautiful birds displaying in your backyard feeders. They are fun to watch and very friendly. If you happen to run out of food, like chickadees, they know where it is kept, and they will follow you to it. I have had chickadees eat out of my hand, but never a Downy, even though they get very close to you.

A Downy showing its identifying feature, black dotted feathers under the tail as it flies to a feeder. | Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com

Now for some updates. I had planned on writing about Ririe Reservoir this week, but it is extremely dangerous. It froze over a week ago on Friday night, but on Saturday morning, it snowed on it, putting four inches of insulating fluffy snow on top. The three days of bitter cold only put a consistent two inches of ice on it. By Wednesday morning, areas of open water appeared near the Juniper Boat Ramp. Hopefully, the warm weather this weekend will clear the snow off to allow ice to build during the next cold snap.

I have had several people contact me about what to feed their newly placed bird feeders. They had bought the cheap “Songbird Mixes” and found that most of the food had been wasted as the birds picked out the sunflower seeds.

A cousin to the Downy, the Hairy woodpecker with its larger bill than its smaller cousin. | Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com

Most of our wintering birds don’t eat the red and white millet and other fillers put in the songbird mixes. I have found that both whole and shelled sunflower seeds, along with suet cakes and shelled peanuts, are usually the best feed for backyard feeders.

Have a great and safe week. Please keep me informed on the things that you see and experience out in the wild.

A male Downy uses its forcep-like bill to break up a large peanut into bite-sized pieces to eat. | Bill Schiess, EastIdahoNews.com