Last winter, I went out to the back yard to fill a bird feeder. In the same tree I had hung a cage of suet for our avian friends.  It’s a great source of fat for birds during the winter. On the suet cage was perched a downy woodpecker, enjoying the treat. Normally birds scatter as soon as you step outside. Not this one. As I approached the feeder, not five feet away, it stayed there, seemingly oblivious to my presence. When I said “Hello, Mr. Woodpecker,” it glanced at me momentarily, but continued to help itself to the suet.

Downy woodpeckers, the most common type of woodpecker in our area, are fearless indeed. They are identified by their bright black and white plumage. The males have a narrow band of red just above the nape of their neck. While other birds have flown south for the winter, downy woodpeckers stick around. They are very resourceful at finding food, digging out larvae from under tree bark or inside plant galls, including the goldenrod gall, a marble-sized growth on the stem containing a fly larva.

Their strong beaks allow them to pierce the tough bark or gall casings. Unlike most other birds, their feet have two toes forward and two backward, making them excellent tree climbers. In the summertime, they are busy excavating a hole in the trunk of a dead tree to start their family. If you hear them loudly tapping away on an excavated cavity or on an empty birdhouse, they are announcing, “This is my territory.”

If there are no dead trees in the neighborhood, many of us unfortunately know that they are experts at drilling holes into the wooden soffits of our homes. Imagine what the pair collected by Noah might have done to his ark.

"Enjoy life. Explore God’s world. Experience His glory.”