Early summer is a great time to see Downy Woodpeckers and their young, as they are year round residents in Fort Bend. Notice how much more distinct the mature male is (crisper red cap as well as black and white patterns) than the young male. Females do not have the red cap.
These sparrow-sized woodpeckers (6 to 6.75") are often seen in multi-species flocks particularly with chickadees, titmice and wrens in Fort Bend. Main diet is beneficial to your trees as they clean them of many pest insects and larvae. You may hear males drumming in the spring. Never fear, they are not pecking holes but attracting mates. They do not sing or chirp.
Downy Woodpeckers come to feeders containing suet or black-oiled sunflower seeds as they fly quickly between trees and “hop” up, down and around trees. They are very fun to watch.
Watch closely for young during the late spring, early summer. Nests are in tree cavities often left by larger woodpeckers that have left cavities in dead wood searching for insects. Except for the areas of the country that have few trees (arid to dessert), the Downy Woodpecker is a year round bird in much of North America that has woodlands.
Photos copyrighted except Downeys on suet feeder by Quail Valley resident and international birder Margaret Sloan. View her international and national bird pictures by pressing this link.
See a bird you don't recognize in Fort Bend? Margaret has photographed 150+ bird species just in her suburban Fort Bend,Texas backyard alone. Narrow your initial search by viewing her full photo album of local birds, Birds of Quail Valley by pressing this link. They are organized by types of birds, so if it's a water bird for example, you may find one that helps you narrow your search. Then if you "google in" the name of the bird, you'll get info and all kinds of information and images. Sometimes if a species is remarkably different from adult you may find nothing, contact us and we'll do our best to help.
Researched and posted by Janice Scanlan, who took the lower quality photo of Downies on the suet feeder in her garden. Click photos to enlarge them.