While birding at the Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh, North Carolina last week, I spotted this Downy Woodpecker snacking on a Praying Mantis’s egg case.
The tiny guy paid no attention to me and was intent on extracting every last bit of insect larvae out of it’s case.
It was neat to watch him at work at such close range!

Measuring in at about 5.7 inches in length, these little dynamos are the smallest species of Woodpecker found in the United States.
They are among our most widespread species of Woodpecker too with a range that extends from southern Alaska, across Canada as well as throughout most of the rest of the United States from California to south Florida.

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Here in North Carolina, Downys are a familiar year round resident in all 100 of our counties. You’re just as likely to see them foraging for a meal in our hardwood forests and brush fields as you are to catch a look at one dining on suet on your backyard feeders.
Keep an eye out for them the next time you go out 🙂

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
#5Ds