{"id":115012,"date":"2023-08-04T05:09:42","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T11:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=115012"},"modified":"2023-08-04T05:11:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T11:11:19","slug":"young-male-downy-woodpecker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/08\/04\/young-male-downy-woodpecker\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Male Downy Woodpecker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I thought this young male Downy Woodpecker, with bits of suet on his bill, was a striking bird, and that&#8217;s why I decided to share this photo today.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-115009 size-full\" title=\"Young male Downy Woodpecker in Arkansas\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744.jpg\" alt=\"Young male Downy Woodpecker in Arkansas, Sebastian County\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744-800x572.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Young male Downy Woodpecker in Arkansas \u2013 Canon R7, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 1000, -1.0 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been hearing Downy Woodpeckers calling outside my living room window frequently since my return to Utah. Their <a href=\"https:\/\/xeno-canto.org\/590054\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">calls and whinnies<\/span><\/a> always make me smile. In fact, I can&#8217;t help myself; I have to smile when I hear Downy Woodpeckers.<\/p>\n<p>This young male Downy Woodpecker was photographed in the yard of my dear friend, <a href=\"https:\/\/stevecreek.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Steve Creek<\/span><\/a>, from his deck. I had a cup of coffee within easy reach while sitting in a comfy chair, watching all the birds in Steve&#8217;s wonderfully birdy yard. Steve&#8217;s adorable Yorkie, Rosie, was probably also within easy reach for petting. Rosie had me figured out, she knew I couldn&#8217;t resist petting her even if I was photographing birds.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Downy Woodpecker Facts:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Downy woodpeckers are the smallest woodpeckers in North America. They measure around 6.5 to 7.1 inches in length.<\/li>\n<li>Woodpeckers are known for drumming on trees, but the Downy Woodpecker has a distinctive drumming pattern. Their drumming is slower and more deliberate than that of larger woodpeckers, and it often includes pauses between taps.<\/li>\n<li>Downy Woodpeckers primarily feed on insects, larvae, and eggs found in trees. They have a specialized tongue that is barbed and sticky, helping them extract insects from crevices and tree bark.<\/li>\n<li>These birds are tree-hugging acrobats and skilled climbers who are are well adapted to cling to vertical surfaces, such as tree trunks, due to their strong feet and stiff tail feathers, which provide stability while foraging.<\/li>\n<li>Downy Woodpeckers have a distinctive call that sounds like a high-pitched &#8220;pik,&#8221; which they use for communication and territorial purposes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>No matter where I am in the country, I adore hearing, seeing, and photographing Downy Woodpeckers. Photographing them in Steve&#8217;s yard in Arkansas was a wonderful treat.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/downy-woodpecker-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Downy Woodpecker photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I thought this young male Downy Woodpecker, with bits of suet on his bill, was a striking bird, and that&#8217;s why I decided to share this photo today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,27,2142,13951],"tags":[5552,2304,193,1996,2143,13981,4067,4062,4104,14193,14247,2315,8018,14248,4777,2146,13966,4193],"class_list":["post-115012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-downy-woodpeckers","category-sebastian-county","tag-bill","tag-calls","tag-downy-woodpecker","tag-driftwood","tag-dryobates-pubescens","tag-feeder","tag-immature","tag-male","tag-perched","tag-steve-creek","tag-suet","tag-summer-3","tag-urban","tag-whinnies","tag-woodpecker","tag-woodpeckers","tag-yard","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5744.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-tV2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":132335,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/13\/young-downy-woodpecker-defensive-behavior\/","url_meta":{"origin":115012,"position":0},"title":"Young Downy Woodpecker Defensive Behavior","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Imagine you are a young Downy Woodpecker, just a couple of months old. You fly to a suet feeder to get food to eat and suddenly get hit by another woodpecker.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Downy Woodpecker in defensive pose, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-mia-mcpherson-0239.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-mia-mcpherson-0239.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-mia-mcpherson-0239.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/downy-woodpecker-immature-mia-mcpherson-0239.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":133395,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/30\/adult-female-downy-woodpecker\/","url_meta":{"origin":115012,"position":1},"title":"Adult Female Downy Woodpecker","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing a simple photo of a female Downy Woodpecker this morning that I took yesterday. But is the image all that simple for me? It isn't, not really.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female Downy Woodpecker with a suet covered bill, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/downy-woodpecker-adult-female-suet-mia-mcpherson-5761.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/downy-woodpecker-adult-female-suet-mia-mcpherson-5761.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/downy-woodpecker-adult-female-suet-mia-mcpherson-5761.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/downy-woodpecker-adult-female-suet-mia-mcpherson-5761.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":143002,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/20\/scruffy-male-downy-woodpecker\/","url_meta":{"origin":115012,"position":2},"title":"Scruffy Male Downy Woodpecker","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Not long after a downpour of rain yesterday, this wet and scruffy male Downy Woodpecker flew in and landed on a vine near the suet feeder. I'm glad he did.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wet and scruffy male Downy Woodpecker, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/downy-woodpecker-spring-mia-mcpherson-7139.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/downy-woodpecker-spring-mia-mcpherson-7139.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/downy-woodpecker-spring-mia-mcpherson-7139.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/downy-woodpecker-spring-mia-mcpherson-7139.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113998,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/06\/26\/downy-woodpecker-photos-from-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":115012,"position":3},"title":"Downy Woodpecker Photos From Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this immature Downy Woodpecker yesterday in my friend Steve's yard I didn't think I'd get two photos with its tongue sticking out. But I did!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Downy Woodpecker with tongue sticking out, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/downy-woodpecker-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-4801.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/downy-woodpecker-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-4801.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/downy-woodpecker-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-4801.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/downy-woodpecker-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-4801.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":149363,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/26\/immature-male-downy-woodpecker\/","url_meta":{"origin":115012,"position":4},"title":"Immature Male Downy Woodpecker","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It was one year ago today that I photographed this immature male Downy Woodpecker. So far this year, I haven't seen any young Downy Woodpeckers.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature male Downy Woodpecker in summer, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5335.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5335.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5335.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/downy-woodpecker-immature-male-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5335.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":135551,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/13\/female-downy-woodpecker-beauty-of-sunlight-and-shadows\/","url_meta":{"origin":115012,"position":5},"title":"Female Downy Woodpecker &#8211; Beauty of Sunlight and Shadows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When this female Downy Woodpecker showed up at the suet feeder in such dramatic light and shadows, I knew I wanted to photograph her to showcase her beauty.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Downy Woodpecker female in a natural spotlight, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/downy-woodpecker-female-light-dark-mia-mcpherson-6388.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/downy-woodpecker-female-light-dark-mia-mcpherson-6388.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/downy-woodpecker-female-light-dark-mia-mcpherson-6388.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/downy-woodpecker-female-light-dark-mia-mcpherson-6388.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}