Episode 79: Downy Woodpecker – Voice of the Wild

This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

Our smallest woodpecker leverages that small size to reach food that’s inaccessible to their larger cousins; twigs that would snap under the weight of a pileated or even a sapsucker are comfortably browsed by this little black and white bird. You may even find one clinging acrobatically to a leaning stem of last year’s goldenrod pecking open a gall on its stalk to get at the grub within. This is the downy woodpecker

The downy is comfortable browsing in a flock in the winter so you might find them with a smattering of nuthatches and chickadees in the woods; but be careful with that ID; the downy is very similar to the hairy woodpecker. There is a modest size difference; the downy is a little smaller and has a smaller beak in proportion to their head, but practically speaking the most reliable way to tell the difference is their call. The Downy’s cascades down and the hairy’s is flat and loud. Here’s the downy woodpecker again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW