Life in Rice Lake, WI

This is 'broken beak', my little feeder friendly Downy Woodpecker.

He's been coming to the feeder all spring and I noticed something about his beak.

I thought that the tip was missing and today he gave me a chance to get some photos.

The tip of his beak looks to be broken off.

I'm not sure how a woodpecker can survive with that kind of beak without feeders.

I'll be sure to keep suet out for him all summer.

He does okay with the seeds so maybe he has already figured out that he needs to be a Vegan.

I read on the internet that the beak may grow back but very slowly, so now we wait and see how he does.

Surprisingly, he is not very spooky and even lets me be on the deck with him while he is at the feeder.

So, 'BB' will be our project this summer.