Bird Spotlight: Downy Woodpecker

The Downy Woodpecker is found all over the North American Continent but in Southeast Alaska there is a sub species that is only found here. The official Latin designation is Dryobates pubescens glacialis. 

Downys are the smallest of the woodpeckers but it still has a wingspan of up to a foot in length. It is mostly black on its back, with spotted black-and-white tailfeathers, a white underbelly. The males have a characteristic red spot on the back of their head. 

These birds hole up in tree cavities during the long winters and forage for bark, berries, and bugs during the summer. A common prey of the downy woodpecker is the European corn borer which wreaks havoc on crops in the US. 

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