Meaning & use
downy woodpecker
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablebiology
A small black-and-white North American woodpecker with a soft-feathered back and a short bill.
Grammar: Countable: a downy woodpecker, two downy woodpeckers.
Patterns
- a downy woodpecker
- downy woodpeckers
A downy woodpecker tapped at the birch tree outside my window all morning.
Downy woodpeckers are common in parks and backyards across most of North America.
The downy woodpecker is smaller than the similar hairy woodpecker, and its bill is much shorter.
Word forms
| plural | downy woodpeckers |
|---|
Common combinations
- a downy woodpecker drumming
- We heard a downy woodpecker drumming on a metal post.
- spot a downy woodpecker
- Birders can often spot a downy woodpecker near the tops of small trees.
- downy woodpecker population
- The downy woodpecker population has stayed steady in this region.
Word family
- woodpecker noun
- The general name for any bird of this family that pecks at wood.
- downy adjective
- Covered with soft fine feathers or hair, which is where the bird's name comes from.
Commonly confused: downy woodpecker or hairy woodpecker?
downy woodpecker vs hairy woodpecker
A very similar-looking but larger bird; the hairy woodpecker has a longer bill and is less common in small yards.
Practice
Which sentence uses the term correctly?
Choose one answer.
The downy woodpecker is a small black-and-white woodpecker found in North America. The other options describe unrelated things and would not appear in a bird guide.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “downy woodpecker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.