The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the biggest, most striking forest birds on the continent. It’s nearly the size of a crow, black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flaming-red crest. Look (and listen) for Pileated Woodpeckers whacking at dead trees and fallen logs in search of their main prey, carpenter ants, leaving unique rectangular holes in the wood. The nest holes these birds make offer crucial shelter to many species including swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens.
Despite its size, this elegant woodpecker is often shy and hard to observe. Obtaining a close view of one usually requires careful stalking. Although primarily a forest bird, the “Logcock” has recently become adapted to civilization and has become relatively numerous even on the outskirts of large cities, where its presence is most easily detected by its loud, ringing call and by its large, characteristically rectangular excavations in trees.


STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO OF THE WEEK:
It is Saturday May 6th, 2023, 5:20PM and I am just returning home from Hackettstown, on Petersburg Road. My thought, at that moment, was I just made a wasted trip!! I had gone to Hackettstown to pick up my laundry, BUT, forgot they close at 5PM on Saturday and Sunday. OK continue driving and notice an object moving atop a stump just off the side of the road. What was that???? Quickly turn around and as I approach the stump, I can see it is a Pileated Woodpecker, working the top of a rotted stump, AND I MEAN WORKING!!! There are wood chips flying all around, from both his pecking and from his making a sideward slashing motion with his bill to clear out loose debris!! I am elated with this find, BUT, I am also a little concerned about my stopping partially on the roadway to get some photos!! I am also hoping he is going to stay put, there is a motorcycle that just pulled onto the road from a driveway only about 60 feet away!! PHEW!! I lucked out, the motorcycle went by, he is still there AND – NO TRAFFIC!! I get a chance to take quite a few photos and some videos!!


OBSERVATIONS:
FIRST – Guess this wasn’t a wasted trip, I got some really closeup and unobstructed views of a Pileated Woodpecker!!
SECOND – You gotta love it!! I just get done writing my intro to this article, telling everyone how hard they are to observe and how you must chase them around hoping for a clear picture!! Which is true, been there done that!! AND, today, I come across one, about three feet off the roadway, ATOP a stump, with no branches acting as obstructions AND – TO BOOT, this guy is soo busy working the stump, he is staying in one place, just as if he was told to pose!!!
THIRDLY – “When it rains, It Pours!!” Ladies and Gentlemen, I just had finished my latest Photo of the Week article and emailed it in to Insidewarren.com just before I departed to pick up my laundry!! That article was actually the cause of my being late, I wanted to finish it before I left!!
DESCRIPTION:
17 inches, a crow-sized woodpecker. Black with white neck stripes, conspicuous white wing linings and prominent red crest. “Mustache” is red in the male, black in female
VOICE:
A loud, flicker-like cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk rising and then falling in pitch and volume.
HABITAT:
Mature forests and borders.
NESTING:
4 white eggs in a tree cavity.
RANGE:
Resident from British Columbia east across southern Canada to Novw Scotia, south to northern California, southern Idaho, eastern North Dakota, central Texas and Florida.


Please visit my Flickr for more photos and videos of the Pileated Woodpecker – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72177720308081394


Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran

Director Open Space
Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission – Chairman
Allamuchy Historical Society – President