There was quite a ruckus out on the lawn yesterday. One of those huge Pileated Woodpeckers flew through announcing he was hungry.
Chance barked and ran at him.
Far Guy told Chance to sit and be quiet.
That gave me enough time to get the camera ready and try for some photos. I have attempted to catch this fellow before ..he has always been too skittish.
He tolerated me for a short time..he likes suet. He flew off when I got too close for his comfort and Chance was happy that he left the yard.
We have a suet feeder hanging in the tree and we have another one out in the open. Most all of the woodpeckers like the one near the tree. We had it in another tree further from the house but the crows kept knocking it out of the tree and quickly devoured the suet…leaving nothing for the woodpeckers. Chance was on crow patrol for a long time this summer. He did a real good job of chasing them out of the yard.
This is a male Pileated Woodpecker. See his red moustache..that is a sure sign of a male. He also has an all red head. Females do not have the red moustache and they usually have a patch of black feathers that accentuate the red on their foreheads:)
good pics, Kay. Always fun when a Pileated comes to visit!
Great photos! 2 winters ago we had a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers at our suet twice a day all winter…we saw none this winter but they were in the woods…..MDB spotted them a number of times but they probably did not need suet during our warm winter when insects must have satisfied them.
The model for Woody Woodpecker is the Pileated one!!!!
PS they are very prehisoric looking and kind of scary with their glaring yellow eyes!
I think the Smithsonian magazine had a small piece about the pileated woodpecker — they were thought to be extinct! Not so much, as your picture shows!