{"id":138516,"date":"2025-01-05T02:37:45","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T08:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=138516"},"modified":"2025-01-04T14:31:51","modified_gmt":"2025-01-04T20:31:51","slug":"downy-woodpecker-at-joseph-h-williams-tallgrass-prairie-preserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/05\/downy-woodpecker-at-joseph-h-williams-tallgrass-prairie-preserve\/","title":{"rendered":"Downy Woodpecker At Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning, I’m sharing photos of an adult male Downy Woodpecker on a gravel road at Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

You might wonder what the woodpecker was doing on the road\u2014I\u2019ll get to that shortly. First, a little information about the area of the preserve where I photographed the Downy Woodpecker.<\/p>\n

The visitor center of the preserve is nearby, and the area adjacent to the road on both sides of the woodpecker is a small Cross Timbers forest<\/span><\/a>. In that spot, it\u2019s more of a grove than a forest, really.<\/p>\n

\"DownyDowny Woodpecker eating a tree nut at Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/3200, ISO 1600, +0.7 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The woodpecker is feeding on what appears to be walnuts or some other type of tree nut growing in the grove. As vehicles drive over the nuts, their thick shells crack, providing a food supply for the woodpeckers and other birds.<\/p>\n

The tree nut is in front of the woodpecker in my photos. In the image above, the Downy is swallowing part of the nut.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Downy Woodpecker on a gravel road at Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/3200, ISO 1600, +0.7 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Every time Steve Creek<\/span><\/a> and I passed this area, there was at least one Downy Woodpecker in the gravel, feeding on nuts.<\/p>\n

Downy Woodpeckers are small woodpeckers that eat tree nuts, insects, seeds, acorns, fruits, berries, peanuts, and suet.<\/p>\n

These woodpeckers are nonmigratory and are found throughout most of North America and into Central America. I adore watching and photographing Downy Woodpeckers wherever I find them, including along gravel roads.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Downy Woodpecker photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning, I’m sharing photos of an adult male Downy Woodpecker on a gravel road at Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, Oklahoma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138509,"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":[2142,16119,13973,16120],"tags":[4004,16132,193,2143,4286,1130,6259,5292,4062,16134,16125,16135,16133,373,4777,2146],"class_list":["post-138516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-downy-woodpeckers","category-joseph-h-williams-tallgrass-prairie-preserve","category-oklahoma","category-osage-county","tag-adult","tag-cross-timbers-forest","tag-downy-woodpecker","tag-dryobates-pubescens","tag-eating","tag-food","tag-forest-edge","tag-gravel-road","tag-male","tag-nut","tag-tallgrass-prairie","tag-tree-nut","tag-walnut","tag-winter","tag-woodpecker","tag-woodpeckers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/downy-woodpecker-male-tallgrass-prairie-mia-mcpherson-4055.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-A28","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":138579,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/08\/oklahoma-tallgrass-prairie-white-tailed-deer-buck\/","url_meta":{"origin":138516,"position":0},"title":"Oklahoma Tallgrass Prairie White-tailed Deer Buck","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On my first visit to Oklahoma's Joseph H. 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American Bison are a success story, but every species we save today will matter tomorrow.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Bison on the Tallgrass Prairie, Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Osage County, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-bison-tallgrass-prarie-road-mia-mcpherson-2943.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-bison-tallgrass-prarie-road-mia-mcpherson-2943.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-bison-tallgrass-prarie-road-mia-mcpherson-2943.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-bison-tallgrass-prarie-road-mia-mcpherson-2943.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":162561,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/11\/01\/in-celebration-of-national-bison-day-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":138516,"position":3},"title":"In Celebration Of National Bison Day 2025","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, in celebration of National Bison Day 2025, I thought I\u2019d share two photos of these amazing and powerful mammals, which we almost lost to extinction.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Bison bull and the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138488,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/04\/one-beautiful-coyote-at-joseph-h-williams-tallgrass-prairie-preserve\/","url_meta":{"origin":138516,"position":4},"title":"One Beautiful Coyote At Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It was our second day exploring the Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve when I spotted a pair of ears in the grasses, they belonged to this Coyote.","rel":"","context":"In "Coyotes"","block_context":{"text":"Coyotes","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/coyotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coyote licking their nose at Joseph H. 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This White-tailed Deer doe giving me the stink eye does just that.","rel":"","context":"In "Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve"","block_context":{"text":"Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/joseph-h-williams-tallgrass-prairie-preserve\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-tailed Deer doe stink eye at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Joseph H. 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