Can you imagine any bird, let alone a Downy Woodpecker like this one, eating bird seed from your hand?
Birds have been fed so often by hand at Kensington Metro Park in southeast Michigan that often all you need to do is stretch out your arm and birds will land on your hand.
Over the past 20 years of hiking the park trails, I’ve seen the Tufted Titmouse, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, and White-breasted Nuthatch fly to someone’s outstretched hand, perch for a moment to take a sunflower seed, before flying off to a nearby bush or tree.
