The pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker left in North America, not quite the largest remaining species in the world. They aren’t especially rare, which is nice. I’ve only ever seen them from down on the ground, while they were high in a treetop, or on a power line or utility pole. I’ve heard the call a few times. It doesn’t sound like Woody Woodpecker at all. I’ve been lied to!
Woodpeckers are in a freaky offshoot of birdkind called Piciformes, which includes some guys you might not expect, such as toucans. The tell is in the feet. They have two front facing and two rear facing toes, allowing them to cling to the verticals of tree trunks more effectively. OK, they are far from the only birds that do this -see parrots- but they do all have this trait in common. Parrots are more closely related to falcons and songbirds than to woodpeckers, so this is a case of convergent evolution in funky feet.
It’s pretty cool that tha king of woodpeckin’ is so easy to find. I’d like a better look at them, but the cost is costly. My bipolar pater went big into birdfeeding, with specialized lures for the big boys, and was rewarded with some good looks at them, some photographs to commemorate it. By the time he successfully brought them to the patio, neighbors were getting angry about the bird shit and noise. It was one of the camelborne straws that caused him to lose that place, always trading down for something worse.
Who’s seen the pileated woodpecker, and did it cause you any trouble?
–
Here in Vermont, where elms continue to die with regularity from attack by bark beetles, pileated woodpeckers have a comfortable niche, and I at least don’t find their presence anything to regret. One can at least hope they’re slowing the spread of the disease by eating the beetles. They’re loud and colorful and aside from the surprisingly loud sound of their pecking, their call sounds a little like a tree full of monkeys.
They have an odd posture when they fly, looking a little like a miniature pterosaur, and they creak like a rusty hinge, which adds to their amusing lack of subtlety.
Anyway, at least out here in the boonies, their unsuitability to suburban life is not an issue. Lots of dead trees around, and Woody is welcome any time.
Seattle’s hills create greenbelts, and there we have them, plus they are resident on our camping property. Their territorial knocking is common morning music. In the city I see them regularly on top of the utility poles. No problems for us, but neighbors who have metal flashing that the pileateds drum on are often not pleased.
currie – as wiess mentioned, they do surprisingly well in the right suburban or even urban environment, which may be why we still have them and not ivory-billed woodpeckers. you probably have a much better view of them than we do, so that’s dope. i wonder that monching on invasive species might even give them higher numbers than they’d otherwise have.
wiess – thx for the info, nice to know they’re doing well even in seattle.