Downy Woodpecker
Dryobates pubescens · Woodpeckers
Downy Woodpecker
Prospect Park, 14 December 2025
A Downy Woodpecker working a snow-dusted snag in Prospect Park in December, North America's smallest woodpecker and a resident of every eastern wood and park all year. In winter it joins the chickadee flocks and follows them round the wood.
Easy to confuse with the larger Hairy Woodpecker, which wears almost identical black-and-white plumage. The reliable difference is bill length: the Downy's is noticeably shorter than the depth of its head, where the Hairy's is nearly as long as the head itself, and this one shows the short, stubby bill clearly.
Downy Woodpecker
Central Park, 21 September 2025
A Downy Woodpecker in Central Park in September, North America's smallest woodpecker and a resident of every wood, park and garden in the eastern United States all year round.
Easily confused with the larger, nearly identically patterned Hairy Woodpecker; the short, stubby bill relative to the head is the reliable difference, clearly shown here. The two are not close relatives despite the matching plumage. The Downy is thought to have evolved to look like the Hairy so that other birds treat it as the bigger, more dominant species at a feeder.
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