Category Archives: .71 to 1.16 ounces in weight

Silvery Checkerspot on Black-eyed Susan

July 11, 2026

A Silvery Checkerspot (Chlorine nycteisI) is a medium-small brush-footed butterfly with a wingspan of 1 3/8 to 2 inches. This one is sitting atop a Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) which is really flourishing right now, much to the delight of these little butterflies.

Host plants of these Silvery Checkerspots are sunflowers, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and Ragweeds. As adults they live for 10 to 14 days, with some lucky ones surviving for up to 3 weeks. During that time they will eat flower nectar, and visit damp soil and mud puddles to sip the water, which provides them with essential minerals. This is known as puddling, a behavior that many butterflies take part in.

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Thank You For The Pose Downy!

March 7, 2025

Looking like it is taking a pose at an awards ceremony, a Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) sits in a Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida). It’s waiting for a turn at the suet feeders where it competes with Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus), Tufted Titmice (Baeolophus bicolor), and Chickadees (Poecile). Sometimes I see as many as three Downies wrangling for a place at the feeders.

In the North American world of woodpeckers, the Downy comes in as the smallest. They have a length of 5.5 to 7 inches and weigh just .71 to 1.16 ounces. Like many birds, they are incredibly light in weight because their bones are hollow.

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