WOODPECKERS 
285 
Distribution. All wooded parts of North America, but not quite as northern in 
extreme range as the Hairy Woodpecker. In Canada, most of the wooded areas across 
the continent. 
SUBSPECIES. Divided into a number of geographical races. Of these, the follow- 
ing are accredited to Canada. The Northern Downy Woodpecker (le Pic minule du Nord) 
Dryobates pubescens medianus , which occupies most of eastern North America, extends west 
throughout the Dakotas, and is probably the bird of the southern Prairie Provinces. The 
still more northern, or Nelson’s, Downy Woodpecker (le Pic minule de Nelson) Dryobates 
pubescens nelsoni is very slightly larger, and with a whiter breast and less barring on outer 
tail feathers. It can be expected to blend into medianus in the Prairie Provinces, and 
extends northwestward through Mackenzie, northern British Columbia, Yukon, and the 
interior of Alaska. In southern British Columbia, east of the Coast Range, is Batchelder’s 
Woodpecker (le Pic minule de Batchelder) Dryobates pubescens leucurus, of the size of 
nelsoni, but with little white on the wing-coverts, analogous to monticola in the Hairy 
Woodpecker. This race extends southward through the United States interior to New 
Mexico. On the coast, west of the Coast and Cascade Ranges, is Gairdner’s Woodpecker 
(le Pic minule de Gairdner) Dryobates pubescens gairdneri , extending southward to northern 
California. It has the whites tinged with smoky similarly to harrisi of the Hairy Wood- 
peckers. On the Alaskan Coast, from Kenai Peninsula to northern British Columbia, 
is the Valdez Downy Woodpecker (le Pic minule de Valdez) Dryobates pubescens glacialis , 
in size intermediate between nelsoni and medianus, and with a slightly different distribu- 
tion of white on the wings and coverts. 
With the exception of the deeply coloured Gairdner’s Woodpecker, 
these are all very slightly defined races, founded on more or less average 
characteristics, and naturally intergrade with each other along the lines of 
contact. Their boundaries have not been very well established in Canada. 
The Downy Woodpecker shows an interesting case of parallel develop- 
ment with the Hairy, of which it is little more than a small replica. It 
breaks up into geographical races closely resembling those of that species. 
Thus we have the following analogous races, showing practically similar 
characters: 
Eastern Hairy. Eastern Downy Smaller 
Northern Hairy Northern Downy Larger 
Rocky Mountain Hairy . .Batchelder’s Large and spots reduced 
Harris’s Gairdner’s Smoky 
The Downy, over most of its range, is one of the commoner wood- 
peckers. It is more likely to come into the orchard and parks, and closer 
to the house, than is the Hairy. It is a valuable assistant to the husband- 
man, the orchardist, and the forester. 
Economic Status. Being the most fearless of the woodpeckers and 
coming close about the fields and houses where it is most needed, it is an 
invaluable bird. Peering into every crack and crevice of shade and fruit 
trees and drilling for deeper-lying insects it well complements the work of 
the little chickadees and nuthatches. In fact, these three species often 
travel in company in the winter and there is little in the food line that is 
overlooked when the three species work together. The food of the Downy 
Woodpecker is similar to that of the Hairy Woodpecker, but, as would be 
expected from its smaller size and its more common presence in summer, 
includes more of the smaller insects. The various scale-insects make a 
larger item in its food and it takes more moth-caterpillars, including 
the tent caterpillar and those of the codling moth. 
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