woodpeckers

Large, wonderous and impressive Pileated Woodpeckers

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Here are a couple of videos we took and some facts about these eye catching forest  birds. Pileated Woodpeckers are crow-sized birds (16 – 19 inches long) with a flame-red crest on top of their head. Their wingspan can be up to 30 inches.

The Pileated Woodpecker’s primary food is carpenter ants, along with other ants, woodboring beetle larvae, termites, and other insects such as flies, spruce budworm, caterpillars, cockroaches, and grasshoppers.

Pileated Woodpeckers stay with the same mate for life. Pairs claim forest territories up to 150 acres or larger. They loudly drum on trees with their beaks all year long to announce the boundaries of their territories.

 

Some favorite portraits of birds

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Here’s a few photos we got of some of our feathered friends.

Young robin right out of the nest

Starling parent, bottom, feeding youngster, top

Red bellied woodpecker

Red-headed Woodpecker

Immature White Ibis

Female Pileated Woodpecker

Brown Pelican

We have always enjoyed birdwatching and found it exciting to see various birds as we have traveled the country. When COVID hit, stopping our travels, we also began to enjoy birding in our own backyard. We both were surprised at how many different species visited our home.

 

No singing here

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That is right. Downy Woodpeckers do not sing like most birds. They communicate by “pecking” or drumming on wood or even metal. Surprisingly these woodpeckers make very little or no sound when going after their insect prey. They are capable of feeding on insects that larger woodpeckers cannot catch, like fly larvae in weed stems.

Male Downy, the female does not have the red on her head

We see both male and female Downy Woodpeckers quite often in our backyard. They like the suet feeders, and we have spotted a male on our hummingbird feeder. Like the White-breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpeckers like to flit from branch to branch, lighting on the suet feeder, grabbing a bite or two and then off they go.

Red-headed Woodpeckers are nature’s show birds

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Today was a little wild with all the new young starlings leaving their nests, and their apparent feeding frenzy with the adults.

Then suddenly Sher and I witnessed the arrival of one of the most striking birds in North America. The Red-headed Woodpecker has beautiful crimson head plumage accompanied by a pure white body and wings that are half white and half ink black. These birds are striking both at rest and in flight. This one was kind enough to stick around on the feeder long enough for the capture you see above.

Another striking woodpecker

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The only North American woodpecker that stores and then hides the stored food.

The Red-headed Woodpecker is one of the most striking birds you’ll find in the forest, or, in our case, the backyard. Today Sher spotted a beautiful male on the tube feeder. He was hanging on the bottom of the feeder poking into the openings. This magnificent bird blessed us with his presence for a few minutes. We hope he’ll feel comfortable enough to return soon.