Dryobates pubescens
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
The downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America. Length ranges from 14 to 18 cm (5.5 to 7.1 in). Downy woodpeckers primarily live in forested areas throughout the United States and Canada, with the exception of deserts in the southwest and the northern tundra. The bird nests in tree cavities and feeds primarily on insects, although it supplements its diet with seeds and berries. The downy woodpecker is very similar in appearance to the hairy woodpecker, although they are not closely related.
The downy woodpecker was described and illustrated with a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, which was published between 1729 and 1732. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the downy woodpecker, coined the binomial name Picus pubescens and cited Catesby's book. The specific epithet pubescens is the Latin for "pubescent" or "downy". Linnaeus specified the type locality as America septentrionali (North America) but the locality is now restricted to South Carolina... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center and Woods Garden | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Downy Woodpecker sighting in Elk Island National Park on a given day, based on 263 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 39th most-seen of the 161 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Downy Woodpecker in Elk Island National Park on a given day, against about 20% in February to July, the lowest months. That is one of Elk Island National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 110 mm in June.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Downy Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 33
Of the 33 parks where we can rate Downy Woodpecker sightings, Elk Island National Park ranks 9th at about 30%. The best odds are in Point Pelee National Park (Canada, about 70%), Congaree National Park (United States, about 70%) and Shenandoah National Park (United States, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Downy Woodpecker that you can see in Elk Island National Park (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Hairy Woodpecker (about 30%), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (about 20%) and Pileated Woodpecker (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Downy Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Elk Island National Park (263 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
