noun

• A widespread small North American woodpecker with a short bill, black and white plumage, and (on the male) a red patch on the back of the head.

  Picoides pubescens, family Picidae

  ‘It was a downy woodpecker, with the red patch on the back of its head.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The birds will love it and if you're one of the few folks out there who have never experienced the awesome power of a downy woodpecker as it batters away at your forehead for hours upon hours at a time then you are in for a real treat!’
  • ‘For giggles I set up the NovaBird Camera and got a shot of a downy woodpecker that decided to forgo the suet log and eat some peanuts and sunflower hearts from the seed feeder.’
  • ‘This improved survivorship was a consequence of reduced natural enemy attack from the parasitoid wasp Eurytoma obtusiventris and from downy woodpeckers.’
  • ‘This morning I watched one of our downy woodpeckers, a real regular at our suet feeder.’