I was a little surprised to see this Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) down on the ground amid the sparrows, pecking away at the dried vegetation and the crazy thought came to mind that it might have been raised by those sparrows. I assumed that Downy Woodpeckers ate only insects, but learned on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website that “About a quarter of their diet consists of plant material, particularly berries, acorns, and grains.”
Eventually the woodpecker emerged from the undergrowth and climbed up a slender stalk, permitting me to get an unobstructed view of its beauty.
Down in the weeds
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I have downy woodpeckers eating seeds from my bird feeders so had assumed they were vegetarian.
My mom;s feeder gets Downeys and Red Bellies all the time in the winter..:-)
Great ahots.
You don’t see them on the ground too often. Nice shots!
There are a family of them in the Mulberry at my garage and they always come to the feeders, especially the suet feeder which has fruit and nuts. Do you see them often? Here we have loads of them.
Hi Mike,
We have a pair that stays around all year. When it’s cold and snowy all winter, they prefer the sunflower seeds and suet that we have at our feeding station. They seldom eat the sunflowers out of the feeders, though. They like to go under the feeders in the snow and grab an errant sunflower seed that might drop there from the comings and goings of Chickadees and Nuthatches. Of course, in the nicer weather, they are back up in the trees pecking off small pieces of bark where they find spiders, beetles, ants, etc. to eat. They sure are fun to watch!
A beautiful bird, and a great observation!