Length -- 6 to 7 inches. About the size of the English sparrow.
Male -- Black above, striped with white. Tail shaped like a wedge
Outer tail feathers white, and barred with black. Middle tail
feathers black. A black stripe on top of head, and distinct
white band over and under the eyes. Red patch on upper side of
neck. Wings, with six white bands crossing them transversely;
white underneath.
Female -- Similar, but without scarlet on the nape, which is
white.
Range -- Eastern North America, from Labrador to Florida.
Migrations -- Resident all the year throughout its range.
The downy woodpecker is similar to his big relative, the hairy woodpecker, in
color and shape, though much smaller. His outer tail feathers are white,
barred with black, but the hairy's white outer tail feathers lack these
distinguishing marks.
He is often called a sapsucker -- though quite another bird alone merits that
name -- from the supposition that he bores into the trees for the purpose of
sucking the sap; but his tongue is ill adapted for such use, being barbed at
the end, and most ornithologists consider the charge libellous. It has been
surmised that he bores the numerous little round holes close together, so
often seen, with the idea of attracting insects to the luscious sap. The
woodpeckers never drill for insects in live wood. The downy actually drills
these little holes in apple and other trees to feed upon the inner milky bark
of the tree -- the cambium layer. The only harm to be laid to his account is
that, in his zeal, he sometimes makes a ring of small holes so continuous as
to inadvertently damage the tree by girdling it. The bird, like most others,
does not debar himself entirely from fruit diet, but enjoys berries,
especially poke-berries.
He is very social with birds and men alike. In winter he attaches himself to
strolling bands of nuthatches and chickadees, and in summer is fond of making
friendly visits among village folk, frequenting the shade trees of the streets
and grapevines of back gardens. He has even been known to fearlessly peck at
flies on window panes.
In contrast to his large brother woodpecker, who is seldom drawn from timber
lands, the little downy member of the family brings the comfort of his cheery
presence to country homes, beating his rolling tattoo in spring on some
resonant limb under our windows in the garden with a strength worthy of a
larger drummer.
This rolling tattoo, or drumming, answers several purposes: by it he
determines whether the tree is green or hollow; it startles insects from their
lurking places underneath the bark, and it also serves as a love song.