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Downy woodpecker

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Downy woodpecker
Male
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Dryobates
Species:
D. pubescens
Binomial name
Dryobates pubescens
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Range of the downy woodpecker
Synonyms
  • Picus pubescens Linnaeus, 1766
  • Picoides pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766)

The downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America.

Taxonomy

The downy woodpecker was described and illustrated with a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published between 1729 and 1732.[2] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the downy woodpecker, coined the binomial name Picus pubescens and cited Catesby's book.[3] The specific epithet pubescens is the Latin for "pubescent" or "downy".[4] Linnaeus specified the type locality as America septentrionali (North America) but the locality is now restricted to South Carolina.[5] The downy woodpecker was usually placed in either Dendrocopos or Picoides but a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2015 found that these genera did not form monophyletic groups.[6] In the revised generic classification, the downy woodpecker was placed with four other species in the resurrected genus Dryobates, that had been erected in 1826 by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie with the downy woodpecker as the type species.[7][8] Within the genus, the downy woodpecker is sister to a clade containing Nuttall's woodpecker (Dryobates nuttalli) and the ladder-backed woodpecker (Dryobates scalaris).[9]

Despite their close resemblance, the downy and hairy woodpeckers are not very closely related; the outward similarity is an example of convergent evolution. Why they evolved this way cannot be explained with confidence; it may be relevant that the species exploit rather different-sized foodstuffs and do not compete very much ecologically.[10][11]

Seven subspecies are recognised:[8]

  • D. p. glacialis Grinnell, 1910 – southeast Alaska (USA)
  • D. p. medianus (Swainson, 1832) – central Alaska to east Canada and central and east USA
  • D. p. fumidus Maynard, 1889 – southwest Canada and west Washington
  • D. p. gairdnerii (Audubon, 1839) – west Oregon to northwest California
  • D. p. turati (Malherbe, 1860) – central Washington to central California
  • D. p. leucurus (Hartlaub, 1852) – Rocky Mountains (southeast Alaska to southwest USA)
  • D. p. pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) – southeast USA

Description

The female lacks the red patch on the back of the head

Adult downy woodpeckers are the smallest of North America's woodpeckers but there are many smaller species elsewhere, especially the piculets. The total length of the species ranges from 14 to 18 cm (5.5 to 7.1 in) and the wingspan from 25 to 31 cm (9.8 to 12.2 in). Body mass ranges from 20 to 33 g (0.71 to 1.16 oz). Standard measurements are as follows: the wing chord is 8.5–10 cm (3.3–3.9 in), the tail is 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in), the bill is 1–1.8 cm (0.39–0.71 in) and the tarsus is 1.1–1.7 cm (0.43–0.67 in).[12][13][14] The downy woodpecker is mainly black on the upperparts and wings, with a white back, throat and belly and white spotting on the wings. There is a white bar above the eye and one below. They have a black tail with white outer feathers barred with black. Adult males have a red patch on the back of the head whereas juvenile birds display a red cap.

The downy woodpecker is virtually identical in plumage pattern to the larger hairy woodpecker, but it can be distinguished from the hairy by the presence of black spots on its white tail feathers and the length of its bill. The downy woodpecker's bill is shorter than its head, whereas the hairy woodpecker's bill is approximately equal to head length.

The downy woodpecker gives a number of vocalizations, including a short pik call. One may identify the woodpecker by pik-call, counting half a second between piks(a total of four must be heard). The rattle-call is a short burst that sounds similar to a bouncing ball, while that of the Hairy Woodpecker is a shorter burst of the same amplitude. Like other woodpeckers, it also produces a drumming sound(sounds like four taps[15] )with its beak as it pecks into trees. Compared to other North American species its drums are slow.[16]

Behavior and ecology

Drumming
A downy woodpecker drumming in Minnesota. A distant woodpecker drumming in response, and other birds, can be heard in the background.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Downy woodpeckers are native to forested areas, mainly deciduous, of North America. Their range consists of most of the United States and Canada, except for the deserts of the southwest and the tundra of the north. Mostly permanent residents, northern birds may migrate further south; birds in mountainous areas may move to lower elevations.[17]

Downy woodpeckers nest in a tree cavity excavated by the nesting pair in a dead tree or limb. In the winter, they roost in tree cavities. Downy Woodpeckers forage on trees, picking the bark surface in summer and digging deeper in winter. They mainly eat insects, also seeds and berries. They are a natural predator of the European corn borer, a moth that costs the US agriculture industry more than $1 billion annually in crop losses and population control.[18][19] In winter, especially, downy woodpeckers can often be found in suburban backyards with mature trees. There, they may feed on suet and shelled peanuts provided by mesh birdfeeders.

  • A male downy woodpecker eating from a suet feeder
    A male downy woodpecker eating from a suet feeder
  • An adult male downy woodpecker in Ottawa, Ontario
    An adult male downy woodpecker in Ottawa, Ontario
  • An adult female walking in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
    An adult female walking in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
  • A downy woodpecker hanging upside down
    A downy woodpecker hanging upside down
  • Feeding on suet
  • Male Dryobates pubescens in Overpeck Park, New Jersey, USA.
    Male Dryobates pubescens in Overpeck Park, New Jersey, USA.
  • Male and female eating in Hopewell, New Jersey, USA.
    Male and female eating in Hopewell, New Jersey, USA.
  • Downy woodpecker feeding chicks in New York City, USA

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Dryobates pubescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  2. ^ Catesby, Mark (1729–1732). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Vol. Volume 1. London: W. Innys and R. Manby. p. 21, Plate 21. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  3. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. Volume 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 175. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 323. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1948). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. Volume 6. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 211. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ Fuchs, J.; Pons, J.M. (2015). "A new classification of the pied woodpeckers assemblage (Dendropicini, Picidae) based on a comprehensive multi-locus phylogeny". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 88: 28–37. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.03.016. PMID 25818851.
  7. ^ Boie, Friedrich (1826). "Generalübersicht". Isis von Oken (in German). 18–19. Jena. Col 977.
  8. ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Woodpeckers". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  9. ^ Shakya, S.B.; Fuchs, J.; Pons, J.-M.; Sheldon, F.H. (2017). "Tapping the woodpecker tree for evolutionary insight". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 116: 182–191. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.09.005.
  10. ^ Moore, W.S.; Weibel, A.C.; Agius, A. (2006). "Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of the woodpecker genus Veniliornis (Picidae, Picinae) and related genera implies convergent evolution of plumage patterns". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 87 (4): 611–624. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2006.00586.x.
  11. ^ Weibel, Amy C.; Moore, William S. (2005). "Plumage convergence in Picoides woodpeckers based on a molecular phylogeny, with emphasis on convergence in downy and hairy woodpeckers". The Condor. 107 (4): 797–809. doi:10.1093/condor/107.4.797.
  12. ^ Woodpeckers: An Identification Guide to the Woodpeckers of the World by Hans Winkler, David A. Christie & David Nurney. Houghton Mifflin (1995), ISBN 978-0-395-72043-1
  13. ^ Downy woodpecker Species Account
  14. ^ Downy Woodpecker, Life History, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  15. ^ Oklahoma City Community College and Cornell
  16. ^ Sibley, David Allen (2000). The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 312. ISBN 978-0-679-45122-8.
  17. ^ Campbell, R. Wayne; Dawe, Neil K.; McTaggart-Cowan, Ian (1997-01-01). Birds of British Columbia Volume 2 : Nonpasserines : Diurnal Birds of Prey Through Woodpeckers. Vancouver, BC, CAN: UBC Press. ISBN 9780774856355.[permanent dead link]
  18. ^ "The European Corn Borer | The European Corn Borer". www.ent.iastate.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
  19. ^ "European corn borer - Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner)". entnemdept.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dryobates pubescens.
Wikispecies has information related to Picoides pubescens.
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