It is the little things in life

[Sooner or later]

I had pileated woodpecker in my backyard this morning. Never have seen one before. SOB was huge, about as big as a crow. Woody Woodpecker was a pileated. I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get a picture. They stay in a localized area so hopefully I can see it again and get a picture.

Beautiful bird.

Not my picture

[GH85Carrera]

Cool. We could hear a woodpecker in our area a last summer. I never did see it. Very noisy when they are hammering on wood looked for a meal.

[OldSpool87]

They are big. Saw my first on a trail at Mohonk Mountain. This past December I saw two in Charleston.

[stevej37]

Usually see at least one each summer here. There is a dying hard maple tree that he goes after.
The chips really fly.
Yes, they are large birds.

[berettafan]

It really is the small things.

The older i get the more i think that is the answer.

Very cool bird btw!

[Starless]

We have a couple around our house, you can hear their screams and the knocking on dead trees. This is the best pic I've been able to get.

[stevej37]

One at work...from youtube

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

I had pileated woodpecker in my backyard this morning. Never have seen one before. SOB was huge, about as big as a crow. Woody Woodpecker was a pileated. I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get a picture. They stay in a localized area so hopefully I can see it again and get a picture.

Beautiful bird.

Not my picture

I've seen them a few times when we lived at our old house. I was struck by their size as well. Same as you, when I saw them, I stood and watched and at the time didn't have a cell phone camera so no pics.

Really amazing birds.

[cabmandone]

I normally see Downy and Red belly woodpeckers when I'm in my tree stand but I've seen Pileated too. Man they make a lot of noise.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

I had pileated woodpecker in my backyard this morning. Never have seen one before. SOB was huge, about as big as a crow. Woody Woodpecker was a pileated. I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get a picture. They stay in a localized area so hopefully I can see it again and get a picture.

Beautiful bird...........

We get those in my area, living on a river in SE Michigan.

Oddly, not on this map.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by cabmando

I normally see Downy and Red belly woodpeckers when I'm in my tree stand but I've seen Pileated too. Man they make a lot of noise.

Yes they do. A lot of noise.

[LWJ]

Interesting. I had no idea that the Pileated WP had such a very large range. I have one that I occasionally see here in Western Oregon. We have a large wooded park in our backyard. They nest in this park. I push all my leaves into my sideyard and the birds love to go pick out yummies from the big pile of leaves.

[ckelly78z]

We have some of the smaller woodpecker breeds around our farm, and can be heard on a calm day from a long way off. It's also a special treat to hear either a barred, or a barn owl on a quiet night.

[Evans, Marv]

This cat sitting in front of our house a week ago might be the cause I haven't seen many woodpeckers around.

[svandamme]

did you rub it's belly? They like that

[rfuerst911sc]

We have one or two that show up at our suet feeders . They hammer that suet like they are possessed 😋

[mjohnson]

My wife saw her first pilated woodpecker up in northern MI some years back and her first statement was (and she's not some city-chick) "holy carp! there's a chicken whacking that tree up there!"

Very cool birds - we're stuck with littler woodpeckers here in NM but we do get huge flickers and stellar jays, not to mention monster chihuahuan ravens. Those ravens, I think, are probably the coolest birds I've experienced.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

This cat sitting in front of our house a week ago might be the cause I haven't seen many woodpeckers around.

They don't seem to mind this little guy much. But something has been hell on our rabbit and Turkey population! Sorry for the terrible pic. I would LOVE to see this guy in person. I've been going up to our hunting property looking for tracks after a fresh snow but haven't found any and haven't had it on camera for quite a while.

[cjh]

We get the Downy, Hairy, Red Belly and Pileated woodpeckers coming into our suet feeder all day.
The Sap Sucker ruined a mountain ash last summer in my back yard.
Don't ask why our house is sided in vinyl and aluminum.

[Sooner or later]

Originally Posted by LWJ

Interesting. I had no idea that the Pileated WP had such a very large range. I have one that I occasionally see here in Western Oregon. We have a large wooded park in our backyard. They nest in this park. I push all my leaves into my sideyard and the birds love to go pick out yummies from the big pile of leaves.

I was surprised to see one is SW Oklahoma. Their range is normally in the Eastern/wooded part of the state.

I am surrounded by undeveloped Indian land that has many areas that are heavily wooded.