This is bird note.

Coast to coast,

Coast to coast, border to border, forest to feeder.

The Downey Woodpecker goes about its business in 49 states.

It turns up everywhere there are trees, except Hawaii, and in the deserts of the southwest.

The Downey is the smallest woodpecker in the United States.

It might have been named by comparing it to its larger cousin, the

Harry Woodpecker, which looks quite similar. Where the Downey has soft fluffy

feathers, especially at the back of its head, the hairy's feathers look stiff and bristly.

The flash of red on the woodpecker's head brings a bit of cheer to your winter feeder.

It's the male that has the red.

The female sports only black and white feathers.

And there's another difference.

The female searches for insects and other tasty tidbits on large limbs and the trunk of a tree,

while the male works farther out on smaller branches.

But add a suet cake to your winter bird banquet and you'll probably bring the downy

woodpecker right up close.

Learn how to serve up a banquet for your birds and sign up for weekly preview email all on

our website birdnote.org. For Birdnote, I'm Mary McCann. Today's show brought to you

by The Bobbling Foundation. You're going to be.