At Hartman, you will find many different types of birds. Some of the most common birds you will see are the northern cardinal, American robin, the black-capped chickadee, the blue jay, downy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, and our state bird the goldfinch. Let’s take a look at two of these. The downy woodpecker is a small type of woodpecker that has a straight, chiseled bill, blocky head, wide shoulders, and a straight-backed posture. The bill tends to look smaller for the bird’s size than other woodpeckers. The downy woodpecker usually lives in forests and nests in the holes in trees. Woodpeckers, unlike songbirds, don’t sing, but instead, drum loudly against trees to get the same effect. They eat insects and seeds that can be pulled from the inside of trees with their beak. Did you know that downy woodpeckers have been found inside the walls of buildings? The northern cardinal is a mid-sized songbird. It has a distinctive crest on the head and a mask on its face. The brilliant red cardinal you see is the male, and the female is a red-tinged brown. Only a few female North American songbirds sing. One of which is the northern cardinal. The female will sing louder and more complex than the male. Isn’t that a nice-sounding bird? For more information on Iowa birds, visit www.audubon.org.