# Male Pileated Woodpecker at our feeder



## Soundchasm (Dec 18, 2017)

I've been enjoying these guys for years, maybe 15.  They even clued me in that one of my trees needed to come down.  We're lucky enough to border a reserve that's less than 400 acres (too lazy to find out ;-).

I've seen a male and female pair regularly, and once I saw three.  Methinks it takes 200 acres to support a pair.  I see lots of the giant fist-sized holes they leave when they get busy.  Love the call.  Love the noise they make working.  I call them the .50 cal of woodpeckers.

They are really skittish.  You can watch from a distance, but it's bye-bye when you move.

I got a Pileated feeder several years ago, and for cryin' out loud, one finally stopped by.  Grabbed the videocam and took a movie.  I may set the cam up on a tripod so we can just hit the "go" button and rule out camera shake.  These are amazing birds.  I'm happy to help them out.  Sure as heck don't want them to move.


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## Soundchasm (Dec 18, 2017)

About the second viewing I noticed that tongue of theirs.  Bet that thing sticks out an inch.


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## begreen (Dec 18, 2017)

That's very cool. He's really going to town on that feeder. We have them in our trees, but we've never seen them at our feeders. Downy's visit and are pretty relaxed around people in comparison. And we get some flickers at the feeders too.


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## Soundchasm (Dec 18, 2017)

If I have friends over and Woody shows up, I make sure everybody gets a look.  I feel incredibly fortunate especially considering their Ivory Billed cousins.

I hope he's here for an easy meal, and not because things are tough.  We'll definitely keep it stocked when things get to single digits.  And probably all the rest of the time, too...


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## cableman (Dec 18, 2017)

Very cool, we dont have them round here. We get downy, hairy and northern flickers.  Downy's  pretty much dont move if i pass the feeder, not too shy.
I started feeding them to try and deter them from pecking my house, now its kinda become a hobby feeding any bird i can get to my backyard.


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## Soundchasm (Dec 19, 2017)

cableman said:


> Very cool, we dont have them round here. We get downy, hairy and northern flickers.  Downy's  pretty much dont move if i pass the feeder, not too shy.
> I started feeding them to try and deter them from pecking my house, now its kinda become a hobby feeding any bird i can get to my backyard.



I hear ya!!


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## firefighterjake (Dec 19, 2017)

Downy, hairy and pileated woodpeckers here . . . like the OP, the pileated clued me in to one of the pines out front that was infested with ants and weakened. Huge holes and large woodchips are the calling card of the pileated pecker.


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## semipro (Dec 19, 2017)

They make some crazy noises too.  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds#
They sometimes make our woods sound like a tropical rainforest.
Its also amazing just how big they get.


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## cableman (Dec 19, 2017)

Red bellies we have also. The downy and hairy made about 8 holes like this so far, i fill with great stuff and caulk lol but so far hanging something shiney has kept them away.
Nice pix you take too, i need a good zoom camera, cell phones just dont cut it.


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## cableman (Dec 19, 2017)

We have such problem with grackles, had to find a feeder to keep them off. Rollerfeeder works well but have to take down suet feeders at times.


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## Soundchasm (Dec 19, 2017)

semipro said:


> They make some crazy noised too.  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds#
> They sometimes make our woods sound like a tropical rainforest.
> Its also amazing just how big they get.



That is EXACTLY right!  When they haven't been around for a while, there's a bird who's call reminds me of their call, but then I remember that unless I expect to see Tarzan swinging past any moment it's not the Pileated.

And the pecking isn't Tito Puente on Timbales doing a press roll, it's the budabudabudabuda of something much more serious!  Hah!


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## Soundchasm (Dec 19, 2017)

cableman said:


> Red bellies we have also. The downy and hairy made about 8 holes like this so far, i fill with great stuff and caulk lol but so far hanging something shiney has kept them away.
> Nice pix you take too, i need a good zoom camera, cell phones just dont cut it.



Holy crap!  The other day, I saw the strangest looking damage pattern to an out building with wooden siding.  It made no sense to me until I remembered our feathered friends.

I really hate the camera I have.  Nikon Coolpix L620.  The zoom seems to have no relation at all to the zoom control.  It's like a car on glaze ice.  The autofocus can be almost as annoying.  The 10X optical zoom is what I rely on.  Zoom in, hold my breath and hope it will focus.  I'd love to pick up a nice used camera.

Here's my secret - don't tell anybody.
I use Picasa by Google to edit all my shots.  I manually crop everything.  That's 75% of the battle.  The other 25% is a retouch button I found called "I'm Feeling Lucky" and it does a very good job of color correction.  OK, that's just between you and me.


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## Soundchasm (Dec 19, 2017)

Here's a really lucky shot that turned out beyond my wildest dreams.  This is a ten minute walk from my house.




Here's the crazy tree it hangs out in.  Allegedly the oldest sycamore in Greene county.  The owl is in the tallest of the two broken limbs on the left side.


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## peakbagger (Dec 19, 2017)

Piliateds can really go to town on what look like healthy trees but if they are drilling, there are carpenter ants already inside. Unlike some other woodpeckers who damage the bark of healthy trees to attract insects to the wounds.

Pilieateds make a lot of noise in their courtship ritual but once they pick a nesting spot, they act like ghosts to avoid drawing attention to the nest.


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## semipro (Dec 19, 2017)

peakbagger said:


> Unlike some other woodpeckers who damage the bark of healthy trees to attract insects to the wounds.


That explains a lot.  We have some very healthy Maple trees that are just peppered with small holes that seem to attract ants.  Of course they may not be healthy for long if the woodpeckers keep this up. We did lose one mature, but not old, Maple and I suspected this as the cause.


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## semipro (Dec 19, 2017)

Soundchasm said:


> Here's a really lucky shot that turned out beyond my wildest dreams.  This is a ten minute walk from my house.
> 
> View attachment 218208
> 
> ...


Incredible capture. The wood grain in that tree alone is worth a shot, the Owl and tree combined - wow.


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## peakbagger (Dec 19, 2017)

Not sure of the variety, but one of them put in long rows of neatly spaced holes on the top and sides of the branch for a couple of feet or so. It sure looks like a healthy branch when they get started


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## Soundchasm (Dec 19, 2017)

semipro said:


> Incredible capture. The wood grain in that tree alone is worth a shot, the Owl and tree combined - wow.



I couldn't believe it either!  Does that owl have any idea how cool that spot is?  It's almost like Salvador Dali is still in charge of one tiny little spot in the neighborhood.


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## DuaeGuttae (Apr 1, 2018)

I thought this thread could use a bump, and my ten-year-old 




daughter took some photos tonight of what may have been a courting pair of black-bellied tree ducks.  They were whistling up a storm and ended up in the same tree.  We are hoping for a nesting site.


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## sportbikerider78 (Apr 23, 2018)

We have a ton of wood peckers around here.  These large ones sound like a war zone at a distance.


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## Soundchasm (Apr 26, 2018)

I call them the 50 Cal of Woodpeckers...


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## blades (Apr 26, 2018)

Whole neighborhood  having problems with wood peckers if they have wood siding -  So I got out the insecticide  liberally sprayed it into the holes they made in my cedar siding- patched things up and did not have the problem again.


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## gzecc (Jun 11, 2018)

Had a Pilated WP in the yard last week in central NJ.


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