DOWNY WOODPECKER
1. The Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) is quite small (to 6.5 inches; 16 cm.). Note the white back and the small bill. Otherwise this industrious little woodpecker would look almost identical to his cousin, the Hairy Woodpecker “>Picoides villosusnt”>),only smaller. His voice is a rapid whinny of notes, descending in pitch. It sounds something like a flat “pick.”
2. The Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) is a bit larger than the Downy (9-10.5 inches; 23-26 cm.). The male has the zebra back with a red cap and white rump. Red covers the crown and nape in the male, only the nape is red in the female. Her voice is something like “kwirr,” “churr” or “chaw;” also “chiv,” “chiv.”
1.A downy woodpecker that cut a nest into a dead tree outside my window.
2. Female
3. Male
4. Another view.
Red Bellied Woodpecker
5. Today 8-17-2020 after the rain, a pair of Red Bellied Woodpeckers showed up! They were assessing the tree abandoned by the downy woodpecker!
6. Checking things out..
7. Is he balding on top? Is this a third one? They were moving so fast I could not tell.
8. The female.
9. Amazing how their claws support them on the tree!
10. Three acorns at a time!