![]() Texas records from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s North American Nest Record Card Program indicate nest building as early as 4 March and young leaving the nest as late as the end of June. Oberholser(1974) listed egg records from 4 May to 28 May and nearly fledged young 11 April to 20 June. The breeding season extends from early March to late June. No nests with eggs were located, but that is not unusual in a cavity-nesting species. Only 18% of the 557 total TBBAP records were confirmed records, and only 10 of these confirmations represented active nests with young. SEASONAL OCCURRENCE: The Downy Woodpecker can be a relatively difficult species to confirm. However, this may have been due to incomplete coverage in the Trans-Pecos area. Oberholser(1974) lists one breeding record from the Stockton Plateau, but the TBBAP data did not include any records from this area. It is all but absent from the Edwards Plateau and other highlands in the western part of the state (Kutac 1993). This apparently represents a significant range expansion, as Oberholser(1974) reported no breeding and only three summer sight records in the northern Panhandle. The exception to this is its surprising occurrence throughout the northern Panhandle with breeding confirmed in 12 sections in this area. Both are from the post-breeding period (one in late July and one in August) and, in all likelihood represent dispersing, non-breeding individuals.ĭISTRIBUTION: The TBBAP records indicate that the Downy Woodpecker in Texas breeds almost exclusively east of the 99th parallel. The TBBAP mapped two out-of-range records, as far southwest as latilong 31104, in the Guadalupe Mountains, over 330km(200mi) from the nearest record. ![]() Oberholser (1974) listed several sight records of individuals considerably south and west of the known breeding range. It is also one of the very few Texas birds that is not found in Mexico.ĭespite the fact that it is a permanent resident the Downy Woodpecker apparently does wander to some extent during the non-breeding season. Christmas Bird Count data show that it is common in winter in the east and that it is absent from the Sonoran Desert and southwestern Texas (Root 1988). The BBS indicates that it is especially numerous east of the Great Plains. In many places its abundance and relative tolerance for human activities make it one of the most familiar woodpeckers. Checklist (1998) indicates that it breeds from central Alaska and Canada to southern California, central Texas, and southern Florida. The Downy Woodpecker is a fairly common permanent resident throughout much of North America. ![]()
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