Species: Downy Woodpecker
Most recent capture date: 5/29/21
Earliest capture date: 12/27/17
Sex: Male
Age: 4 years old
Notes: In most bird species, only females incubate the eggs, so only females develop brood patches, an anatomical feature that develops during the breeding season to help them better transfer heat to the eggs. However, in woodpeckers, males also incubate. This guy had a brood patch when we caught him this year, and also had one in 2018 and 2019. (We didn’t catch him in 2020.) He could have great-great-grandchildren by now!