April 25, 2021
Read MorePileated Woodpecker 002
They pick very dry hollow trees so their deep, rolling pattern of drumming will echo across the forest. This one is the female. Females have a partial red crest similar to the males but don’t have the red cheek stripe. This tree is right by our house so it allows us to hear them drumming as we wake up in the morning. You can see the mark in the tree where they drum so the vibrations make the loudest sound.
Pileated Woodpecker 008
One year I found a nest cavity in a birch tree. If any of you have worked with birch lumber you know how impenetrable it is. They have to hit the wood with amazing force thousands of times to chip out a cavity. If it wasn’t for the fact that woodpeckers have high impact resistant scull and tongue bones that protect the brain it would be impossible.