Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Downy Woodpecker


Here's a male Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens, the smallest woodpecker in North America. Males have a red spot and the females have a black one.

This little fellow is another regular around here. There must be lots of good bugs because he frequents this crabapple tree. There are three trees in the yard and he does prefer this one. He will occasionally swoop onto the feeder for a sunflower seed or two.

In years gone by, there would be a block of suet as well. Downies love suet! In fact, I think it's time to restart that practice, especially with the cold weather coming in. The predictions have the nightly lows near 0 degrees F. Snow tonight into tomorrow. Brr!

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