Downy Woodpecker

Female Downy Woodpecker in Columbia on April 23, 2020. This was one of our resident Downy Woodpeckers around the apartment this past spring. Her and her mate took up residence in a tree right beside our living balcony. In early April, I caught the male working on a nesting hole that was at eye-level. Downy Woodpeckers (as well as other woodpecker species, wrens, and chickadees) will build "fake" nest holes to lure predators from their real nest. I was not sure which type this pair was building but I monitored it for a few days. Since they were working on it consistently and mating several times a day within feet of this hole, I was confident this would be their real nest.

In early April when this photo was taken, eggs were not laid yet. The nest was still not fully excavated so the non-working bird would hang out nearby. With the Maple Tree they took up residence in its spring bloom, it provided vibrant, colorful backgrounds for my photographs.

I chatted with friends from my bird club and they gave me some date estimates on young based on my activity log. In early June, they had just one young Downy poking out of the nest. And what a racket it made! It was constantly calling out to the parents for food for several days until it fledged out of the nest.

Lens - Tamron 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 @ 600mm on Nikon D500