Nature Notes
Downy Woodpeckers Can Be Found Across North America
By Patricia Martin

The other day, while walking along the East Bluff, I spied a downy woodpecker working on a common mullein plant. It seemed to be pecking away at the seed head, as most of the yellow blossoms are past. A moment or two later, a blackcapped chickadee joined it on a nearby mullein plant. Now, I understand the chickadee going after the seeds in the mullein, but I was a little surprised to see the woodpecker, figuring that woodpeckers usually get insects from trees that they peck, as their name implies.

Downy woodpeckers are the smallest woodpeckers in North America, and are found from coast to coast. They're only about seven inches long, with a wingspan of about a foot. Like many woodpeckers, they're predominantly black and white. They have a short, stubby black bill, a white face, a black molar mark, black nape and shoulders, a white back, black wings with white spots, white underparts, and a black tail with three outer white tail feathers with dark dots or bars. In addition, the male downy has a red patch on the back of his head. This bird looks very similar to the hairy woodpecker, but the hairy is larger (8.5 to 10.5 inches long, with a wingspan of 15 to 17.5 inches), has a much longer beak (about the depth of its head), and the three outer tail feathers are entirely white. The call of the downy is a down-slurred, soft, high pitched whinny, and its call is a flat "pik." The hairy woodpecker has a louder, downslurred whinny, and its call is a bold, grating, sharp "peek."

Downy Woodpecker

The downy woodpecker lives in deciduous and mixed deciduous-coniferous forests, riparian woodlands, parks, and orchards. They build their nests yearly in holes in old trees, three to 50 feet off the ground, which they line with wood chips. The female selects the site, and it takes on average 16 days to dig the nest out. The entrance to the nest is camouflaged with lichen, fungus, and moss. These small birds can often be heard drumming on dead limbs or tree trunks with good resonating qualities, or on utility poles and buildings to advertise their presence and proclaim territory.

For those of you not familiar with common mullein (Verbascum thapsus), which the downy woodpecker was pecking, it is one of the easiest plants to identify. It's a biennial, and the first year it bakes a basal rosette of soft, large, thick, and extremely hairy leaves. Because of the hairs, the leaves have a soft, gray-green color. The second year, it sends up a stout, flowering stock that grows between two and six feet or more in height, with leaves growing up the stem. The flowers blossom in a terminal spike and have conspicuous orange stamen.

This plant is a European native that was brought to North America as a medicinal herb. It is known by a variety of names, including beggar's blanket, flannel leaf, velvet plant, witch's candle, Aaron's rod, and Indian tobacco. The tall stalk has been used as a torch since the time of the Romans. They would be dipped in tallow and lit, and apparently they burned for quite a time. A yellow die could be extracted to be used to color hair, and a green die can be made from this plant to die fabric. Pollen or the leaves of mullein have been rubbed on the cheek to redden the skin of women instead of using rouge, and mullein is sometimes known as Quaker rouge for that reason. There have been many other uses for mullein, from lining the soles of shoes for warmth, to using it for toilet paper, but it's probably best known as a medicinal. The leaves have been used as a poultice to help heal wounds, and boiled leaves have been laid on joints to relieve rheumatism, or laid on the head for headaches. Smoked leaves were used for respiratory ailments. In the 1900s, a popular cough medicine was made from mullein. A tea was made from the flowers, which is said to help reduce pain and induce sleep. In addition, a tea has been used to help broken bones heal. Research has shown that the mullein plant contains chemicals that are useful in softening the skin and soothing inflamed tissue. All in all, the common mullein is a most useful plant.

But the question remains, why was the downy woodpecker pecking at this plant? He probably wasn't going after it for medicinal purposes. Most likely he was going after some kind of food. Seventy-five to 85% of the downy's diet is made up of insects, their larvae, or eggs. Because of their small size and their agility, they can feed on insects on smaller branches and farther out on the tips than other woodpeckers. In addition, downy woodpeckers will also eat seeds, nuts, berries (even those of poison ivy), spiders, and snails, and even take sap from the holes of their cousins, the sapsuckers (as in the yellow-bellied sapsucker, which we also see on Mackinac). It seems logical that this woodpecker was going after the seeds of the mullein, although the flower stalk could have been infested with insects.

It's fun to see some of the smaller woodpeckers who are year-around residents. Usually, most of the attention goes to their much larger (up to 20 inches long, with more than a twofoot wingspan) cousin, the pileated, with its bright red crest, loud call, and hammer, which echoes through the woods. (The pileated's excavation work is also more evident).

If you want to attract the downy, hairy, or other woodpeckers to your yard, they do come to feeders for suet, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, and bread.

Trish Martin is a yeararound resident of Mackinac Island, has earned a master's degree in botany from Central Michigan University, and owns Bogan Lane Inn.