[raylo32]

I heard a bit of noise out front and when I had look out the window there was one of those enormous pileated woodpeckers in my tree. A couple years ago a pair of these buggers flew in and started pecking on my neighbor's deck. But we don't see them so close to our houses often.

 

[mark sr]

They are neat to see/hear but they wouldn't be pecking if they didn't think there were bugs in the wood for them to dine on.

 

[lenaitch]

Nice. We have a few over-winter here and more in the summer. We've never had one that an interest in the house, although we have had smaller ones (downy/hairy) use our gutters to amplify their territory or mating signals.



Spring is coming! I saw a chipmunk yesterday, the foxes are getting more mobile and crows are starting to move back and ravens move out.

 

[SeniorSitizen]

Glad to see someone else has the Pileated. Being I've only seen 2 in my life, 1st. in 2005 and 2nd in 2017, it's probably safe to say they are rather uncommon here in the Plains.



There's no way I would have known, the one in the pic with body parts labeled, was there unless I saw it fly into that oak tree. Rather than a hi speed wood pecker sound it's more like someone beating on a tree with a hammer.:smile:

 

[Chris616]

I was surprised when one showed up at our now under-sized feeder a month or so ago. They always come as a pair (daily now), usually taking turns, but occasionally really rocking the 2X2 pole as they both hammer at it. This is the male. The female has a similar crest but no red line under the eye.

I should try to get better photos on a sunny day and not shooting through a window.

Chris

 

[lenaitch]

Their tree marks are usually fairly obvious since they auger a pretty big hole and are usually the only ones that will work near the base of a tree. There is a pressure treated utility pole not far from here that has a Pileated cavity on it. Couldn't have tasted good.

 

[LS-6]

Several years back those SOB did some decent damage to the cedar corner posts on my house. One was pecking slow a few times and I thought someone was knocking at the door. Went outside when no one was there and noticed the damage. Have seen them around the yard but not on the house since then. Can hear them in the neighborhood now that the weather is warming up.

 

[SeniorSitizen]

If Terminix and Orkin get wind of this the race will be on to determine which can be first to have a trained Pileated.:biggrin2:

 

[Old Thomas]

I had a tree stump in my front yard and one day I got home to find half of it shredded. The next day I came home and saw the woodpecker finishing it off.

 

[Mystriss]

We have peckers every year hammering on the side of the house, but we don't have bugs - had it checked many times over the years because I thought the same thing [that they only peck if they think there's bugs]

The "pest folks" that checked for bugs (we have carpenter ants only, no termites up here) said they're trying to make a nest. They recommended that I should repaint the house so they didn't confuse it with birch bark so easily? I'm not going to do that because it's a brown and white French Tudor so the pest folks get free money instead heh

 

[mark sr]

I've heard that if there is any stryofoam insulation under the siding the wood peckers will mistake the sound of the styrofoam popping and cracking as it expands/contracts for insect activity.

 

[raylo32]

Luckily these guys seem to have no interest in our houses... except that one time on my neighbors' deck when they were probably after the big ants. We also have tons of the little peckers in our woods and they visit my bird feeder many times every day. I have never seen a pileated try the feeder. But it is one of those squirrel proof feeders that has a spring loaded cage that covers the feed ports when something heavy climbs on. I suspect a pileated might also be heavy enough to be excluded.

 

[SeniorSitizen]

I've heard that if there is any stryofoam insulation under the siding the wood peckers will mistake the sound of the styrofoam popping and cracking as it expands/contracts for insect activity.

Chickens will eat stryofoam, at least they would the sheet stryofoam that was made 40 years ago. Maybe domestication affected their brain and that's why they were given the nick name - bird brain.

 

[John Smith_inFL]

I had a problem with carpenter bees laying eggs in the back side of my
wood facia boards on my shop. the P-woodpeckers were like a bulldozer
tearing the front side of the boards out to get at the larvae.
when I was about 18 years old, there was one on a small tree in my yard
about 4 feet off the ground. he went round and round the tree looking for
bugs. when he was on the back side of the tree, I snuck up to the tree and
quickly grabbed around the tree and actually grabbed hold of the bird !!!!
Man-O-Man can these guys SCREAM when they are in a tight spot !!!
quickly letting go, I didn't know who was more scared: me or him.
but - they are beautiful birds, and nice to have around, as long as they
don't tear up your stuff. (then they lose their cuteness pretty quickly).

.

.

 

[mark sr]

I have carpenter bees :sad: more so in the barn/shop than at the house. I often hear a wood pecker in the woods surrounding my house but have yet to have any wood pecker damage on any of my structures - knock on wood ....... just don't knock too hard on any wood hollowed out by the bees!

 

[DoomsDave]

I was surprised when one showed up at our now under-sized feeder a month or so ago. They always come as a pair (daily now), usually taking turns, but occasionally really rocking the 2X2 pole as they both hammer at it. This is the male. The female has a similar crest but no red line under the eye.

I should try to get better photos on a sunny day and not shooting through a window.

Chris

Pileated woodpeckers? We had them in Ohio, and they were spectacular! My dad almost crashed the car 40+ years ago when a pair flew across the road . . . . :vs_laugh:

 

[Chris616]

Stereo Woody!

 

[JBoot]

What?

 

[Startingover]

Pileated are beautiful but SO loud.

Occasionally the red belly hammers on the neighbors metal satellite dish or my gutters.

 

[SeniorSitizen]

Pileated are beautiful but SO loud.

Occasionally the red belly hammers on the neighbors metal satellite dish or my gutters.

I've always thought the red belly here at the ranch that pecked on the aluminum yard light shield had fallen off the turnip truck but now glad to know that maybe he didn't.:biggrin2: