BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Dryobates pubescens
Downy Woodpecker
| Scientific Name: | Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) | ||||||||||
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| Scientific Name Synonyms: |
Picoides pubescens
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| English Name: | Downy Woodpecker | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy Comments: | June 2018: The woodpecker genus Picoides has been split resulting in the change in genus from Picoides to Dryobates for this species. This is based on the 59th supplement to the American Ornithological Society?s Check-list of North American Birds. Chesser, R. T., K. J. Burns, C. Cicero, J. L. Dunn, A. W. Kratter, I. J. Lovette, P. C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., D. F. Stotz, B. M. Winger, and K. Winker. 2018. Check-list of North American Birds (online). American Ornithological Society. http://checklist.aou.org/taxa | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-DOWO | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Mar 2015) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Clutch size 3-7 (usually 4-5). Incubation about 12 days, by both sexes. Young leaves nest at 20-22 days, then dependent on parents for food for 3 more weeks. Possibly 2 broods per year in south. | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Northernmost breeding populations move southward for winter. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Deciduous and mixed woodland, second growth, parks, orchards, swamps, and riparian woodland. Nests mostly in hole dug by both sexes in dead stub of tree, also in live tree (especially dead part), fenceposts; 1-15 m above ground. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Frugivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Eats mostly insects, including adults, larvae, pupae, and eggs, obtained from bark of trees; also eats berries and nuts (Terres 1980). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
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| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 17/ / 27 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDING: western and central Alaska to northern Saskatchewan and Newfoundland, south to southern California, central Texas, Gulf Coast, and southern Florida. NON-BREEDING: throughout breeding range, but more northern populations are mostly migratory, occurring irregularly southward. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | HAMMERSON, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Dec 20, 1993 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
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Ball, R. M., Jr., and J. C. Avise. 1992. Mitochondrial DNA phylogenetic differentiation among avian populations and the evolutionary significance of subspecies. Auk 109:626-636. |
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Bent, A.C. 1939d. Life histories of North American woodpeckers, U.S. Nat'l. Mus. Bull. 174. Washington, D.C. |
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Campbell, R.W., N.K. Dawe, I. McTaggart-Cowan, et al. 1990b. The Birds of British Columbia Vol. 2: Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers. Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, BC. |
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Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
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Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp. |
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Kilham, L. 1983. Life history studies of woodpeckers of eastern North America. Nuttall Ornithol. Club Pub. No. 20. vii + 240 pp. |
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Mitchell, W. A. 1988. Songbird nest boxes. Section 5.1.8, US Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual. Tech. Rep. EL-88-19. Waterways Expt. Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. 48 pp. |
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Short, L. L. 1982. Woodpeckers of the World. Museum of Natural History [Greenville, Delaware], Monograph Series xviii + 676 pp. |
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Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1993. Species Summary: Dryobates pubescens. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 10, 2026).