So I was out doing some spring-cleaning yard work today and look who came to visit!

It's a Pileated Woodpecker! These are crow-sized birds that are simply spectacular. I didn't have my long telephoto handy so this picture, taken at 135mm, is heavily cropped in photoshop (thus the chromatic aberration around the crest and such).

Check the damage he did to this Beech tree! Pileateds eat almost exclusively Carpenter ants. They look for rotted trees that they believe may harbor an ant colony and then search the tree, actually listening for the sound of ants chewing away the dead wood on the inside of the trunk. When they think they hear munching ants they drill a few test holes in the tree to find exactly where the colony resides. Once they locate it all hell breaks loose as they rip the tree apart, consuming ants as they go.

Look at the size of the wood chips this pecker is chiseling out of this tree! Granted the wood is rather soft but still... that is pretty damn impressive!


I know I'm a dork for getting so excited about birds but I just thought this was so cool and wanted to share. Thank you for letting me do so. And here I thought doing yard work was going to be boring! "Once in a while you get shown the light..."

Woman I know has a pleated glass pecker she bought down in the Village.

sure sign of spring,turkeys should be gobbling any day if they arent all ready,my feeders are all active got a mating pair of cardnials ,mourning doves,tons of juncos,assorted sparrows,starlings,crackles,robins,crows

nothing dorky about knowing your trees and animals
most people wouldn't know stuff like that if it was right in front of them
if you like birds and ever come to ohio , check out the crane creek state park .
this is a huge marsh bordering lake erie just east of toledo. there are probably around 100 different bird species living there. you might even see an eagle

83msg1sttyme wrote:


Thanks! Nice to know I'm not the only bird-brain on this board!

My office manager is a bird watcher. I'm a girl watcher.

How do you post pictures on here?

i keep binocs by the back window/door and a bird book,we maintain the yard with birds in mind have several feeders set up,I enjoy hiking wildlife observation,helps to know what your looking at i recomed thePETERSON FIELD GUIDE series of books

My friend Ralph lives on the Hudson downtown and his windows face the apartment towers of Newport City in Jersey City. He has a telescope in his 8th floor window.

83msg1sttyme wrote:


Peterson was brilliant. I practically have an entire shelf dedicated to his field guides: birds, trees, insects, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, astronomy, wildflowers, etc. I also highly recommend his stuff.

What a beautiful pecker!

I have a ton of feeders, also. Watching birds is so zen for me.

The different woodpeckers are some of my favorites. My neighbor has a cedar shake house tho and although I'm sure the woodpeckers have always been around, every spring the topic comes up that somehow my birdfeeders are responsible.



Thanks for the photo( and the reminder that I've procrastinated filling my feeders all week)

Happy Saturday, all !

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