Educate Yourself About the Pileated Woodpecker and Other Woodpeckers
Pileated Woodpecker
The Pileated Woodpecker has a prominent flaming red crest, all black back, long-necked with broad wings, and flashing white underwing areas. Its length is 16-19in (41-50cm)
Its wingspan is 29in (74cm) Its voice is a call of “kik-kik-kikkik—kik-kik” sounds like the flickers, but more louder and irregular. Their eggs are pure white, with 1 clutch consisting of 4-5 or (3-5) eggs. Both male and female incubate (the male at night) for around 15-18 days, and the fledging time is around 26-28 days. Both male and female feed their young. Male and female has the striking red crest, but for the male who also has a red forehead and whisker marks.
The Pileated Woodpecker is unmistakable, with his showy, swept back, pointy bright red crest, and will surely remind you of the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker; even his voice resembles the laugh of Woody. You can find these big birds in the Northwest, and the eastern half of the country all year around, and also throughout southern Canada. They do need large, uninterrupted patches of woodlands, and are also very sparsely distributed, so consider yourself very lucky if you see one.
The male will defend his territory to the core, with a fears drumming, and a loud trumpeting call, witch can be compared to a jungle scream, right out of “Tarzan movie”. Males who have yet not found a partner, will drum more often, by striking the bill repeatedly against a branch or tree trunk.
The Pileated Woodpecker diet consists of about 75% larvae from wood-boring beetles, ants, and termites that they excavate from large trees, deep into the heartwood. Sometimes these holes can big enough to enclose the entire bird, and more than other woodpeckers they feed on fallen, and decaying trees. During fall, and winter they need to build fat reserves by consuming acorns, and fruit.
After excavating the new nesting cavity, the male will typically roost before incubation time, and will continue to do so by taking the nightly incubation shift. The female will sit on the eggs during the day. There has been a documented case of a female which returned to her nest after a storm, and found that the nesting tree had broken off, exposing her eggs. She gathered the eggs and carried them in her bill to a new nesting site, all within a short 20 minutes. The Pileated Woodpecker is among the few birds that will retrieve their eggs after loosing a nest.
If you like to attract the Pileated Woodpecker plant some grapevines, sumac, and Virginia Creepers, to provide fall food. Fill your hanging bird feeders with sunflower seeds and cracked corn. Put out suet, and peanut butter mixtures treats, (consisting of oatmeal and peanut butter), and leave at least on dead tree, and dead branches, for roosting and nesting sites on your property.
