Pileated Woodpecker

kbarrett · May 9, 2002

I've only seen them around the Grayling area at a Church Camp called Camp Au Sable. A little over 800 acres of sheer beauty.

Northern Michigan definitely has more forested areas than down here. That is why I found the sighting so unusual.

It sort of reminded me of a Mockingbird sighting I made around Greenville, MI about this time 14 years ago. Mockingbird sightings are pretty infrequent around here as well.

It's pretty neat to see these "oddities" from time to time.
I'll report if I see the Pileated again, but I kind of doubt it. He's probably in your backyard by now /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

Carl_NH · May 9, 2002

David,

We have two that visit in the summer. They are shy but their call they make - distinct to any other bird. plus when their feeding on bugs in the trees, they make a racket & look more like a jack hammer. My office is cedar shake siding, surrounded by trees, occasionally they sample the siding, but mostly the trees.

Beautiful birds in all, and great to have around.

Carl

MossRoad · May 10, 2002

I'd never seen one until about 3 years ago. Since then, I've seen them at Potato Creek State Park in North Liberty Indiana, SW of South Bend, IN, Indianapolis, IN on the North side of town near Meridian and 71st., and at Turkey Run State Park, SW of West LaFayette, IN.

We saw four of them at Turkey Run about a month ago and they appeared to be two pairs fighting over territory. Very loud. As a bonus we also saw a VERY large earless owl watching them fight. Couldn't identify it because it was backlit by the sun.

Steelfan · May 12, 2002

I guess one made PA. I saw a quite large bird in the back yard today with a red head, and black body hanging on the side of a tree. My wife said there was just a post on this forum about them. Just thought I'd let you know. Nice looking bird.

newbie · May 14, 2002

Here's "our" pileated woodpecker in Clinton, NJ. He was working this tree for about a 5 hour stretch.

--Steve

RobS · May 14, 2002

Neat picture Steve /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Steelfan · May 14, 2002

Yep that's it. The one in my backyard was working on a tree, then went to a stump. I think it was looking for something to eat in the stump. Nice photo Steve. Did you take that with a digital camera?

newbie · May 14, 2002

>>Did you take that with a digital camera?

No - a 35mm camera with a 300mm telephoto lens. He was about 40ft. up in a dead oak tree and I was trying not to scare him away. I used a scanner and Photoshop to convert to JPEG.

Wal · May 15, 2002

We have a couple of Pileated living in and around our property in eastern central Missouri ozarks. If anyone hasn't actually seen a Pileated, you may have heard one. Listen to the attachment for their call. Kind of reminds me of that Hollywood jungle bird sound. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Steelfan · May 15, 2002

Good Job, I've heard that before, but I thought it was my wife. LOL. Great sound, I've heard that sound before, and never realized what it was. Also Newbie, that was a great picture. I was trying to pick your brain on a new Digital Camera. I've got one with a 2X zoom, but we need a better one. Thanks for the posts guys.