Pileated Woodpeckers

I have been trying to get a shot of a "new" female Pileated. She is very noisy coming into the yard but extremely shy once she's here. The instant she senses movement she flies off. I have a secret weapon for attracting her - the pre-packaged suet blocks left over from the winter. Like Milk Bones to a dog!

My husband insisted that the Pileated he has seen is a male. I had only seen the female. Guess what?! Here's the pair of them!!

Does anyone know why they are so brown in color? Are they juveniles?

Another.

Pair in an oak tree.

I don't know the "brown" answer, Ma... I do know you're so lucky to have them frequent your feeder. I have one every once in a while in my woods and he'll come to my backyard to peck at some trees and a suet cake... but nothing frequently enough to call my own.
As an aside: Who says PILE-Eated and who says PILL-Eated?

I know what's probably correct but I can't get out of the habit of pronouncing it Pill-Eated. Isn't it PI- LAted?

The brown could be from the stuff their rooting around in.

Great pics Ma!!!

They are really brown - not dirty, although they might be dirty birds - but really brown.

Hey-Judy: Put out a peanut feeder that is against a tree or a post and they will come. They love peanuts. I had to move mine because the squirrels ate through the wire and the peanuts. The need something they can rest their tail feathers against - or at least that's the rumor. They won't touch the small peanut feeder but this large suet feeder they can easily attach to and balance on.

I say "Pill-E-Ated. You say potato.

I bought a woodpecker tail prop suet cake feeder the first time I saw a PILE-Eated (LOL) in my yard so they could rest their weary tails. God forbid they aren't comfortable eating. You guessed it, my dog's dishes are also elevated.

I understand completely. :)

You guys are real comedians! Fabulous pictures Ma. I really like the second one where you can see the striped along the side of its face. Beautiful. Lucky you.

Those are great shots. How lucky you are. I have never seen one yet (except a pic). My daughter did once and she had to call right away and 'let me know about it'.

Great shots of the pair!! I get a male Pill-Eated from time to time and I have see a female. AND I have seen them together...but not in my yard!

Oh, how cool to get a shot of 2! We have them in the mature woods behind our house. They are very loud woodpeckers lol.

I also bought one of the long suet feeders with the tail prop but have yet to see a pileated use it in my garden.

Teresa in KY

Great pictures. I am a lover of these guys too. Always great when you can see them.

How funny that I was going to ask for the correct way to say Pileated. I say pile-ated, I have heard pilly-ated. The books do not have the correct pronunciation.

I have posted this picture before, but thought I would add it to this great thread for others that haven't seen it. It is my favorite.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pileated

Click on the speaker icon and they will say it. LOL.

LOL! I'm dumbfounded that I have been pronouncing it RIGHT all of my life!

Mine do not have any of the brown on them at all.

Must email this link to boyfriend's mom in Michigan, Pastor Nancy across town here in Gwinnett and gal and WBU who all INSIST I've been wrong saying it this way. Thanks Juney Bug. Leave it to someone in my home state to lend me a hand! Pheeshew.

Ok,
1. Botany Having a pileus.
2. Having a crest covering the pileum. Used of a bird.
But how do you pronounce the name of the bird???
Can't convince this Michigander with that one. LOL

I say pi-lated lol. Seen one for the first time yesterday. I was in the wood's, heard heavy pecking, took about half hour trying to sneak up to him, started to raise the camera and he saw me :( lol

but i know where he lives now:)

Can we just agree to call them Tufted Woodpeckers. ;)

Or Woody Woodpecker?
The story (myth) is that one of these was outside the window, giving inspiration to the developement of the cartoon character.

I'm not having the Pie-le-ated pronunciation either - although, I suppose Pile Driver...

Nice shot spartschick - must be a nice ant herd in that log!

Around these parts we call them p-wooodies.

Thanks Ma, that log is a root from a huge old stump. It is very rustic and attracts lots of wildlife.

I was using the hand pump, pumping water yesterday to refill the birdbath and one landed on one of the bird feeders and was pecking away on the metal part. Another was answering in the distance. He was only about 10 feet from me. Guess I need to have the camera to do chores now. Ha.

Sometimes it doesn't help to have the camera. I had a Harlan's hawk fly right in front of me the other day. No time to shoot - only time to pick my jaw up off the ground!

LOL...Ma_McGee...I have had that happen soooo many times! :0)

I guess our Pileated Woodpeckers aren't real picky about what they eat out of! This one stayed hanging like that for quite a while eating the suet.

Rose

No pic but we had a pair out on our tree today...the first time for that!

Nice shot Rose!

I've only seen a pair once last summer. There seems to be several ones around, but never together. Is it unusual to see a pair?

Rose

You guys are so lucky to have these birds in your yards....I am so jealous!! Love all of the pics!!!!

Rose, it is a treat to see a pair for sure. I am not sure how unusual. I have seen pairs quite often, but I live in the woods where their habitat is.

My record is seeing 3 adults at one time. Although I did see a pair with fledges in a pine once. What a racket, but you could not see all of them.

DH and I were talking about noise levels and decided that sandhill crane was on top, followed by jet engine, loon, and pileated woodpeckers. LOL.

I usually only see pairs around February for some reason.

I am going to post on the daily pic thread but will share it here too. This is from yesterday afternoon...adult & a fledgling!! The juvenile is the bird on the right....we even saw the parent feeding it....cool!

Love the new pics of Pileateds! Rose, your bird is so good looking. Very photogenic.

nanny - how do you know the juveniles from adults?

We have seen multiple birds at one time when there is a feast of ants or other insects available in a spot.

Well, mostly it was because we saw the adult feeding...and the other displaying the begging behavior of juveniles. They are a bit smaller and their crowns seem to always have that "Don King" style...sticking srtaight up!!

Nanny and Rose keep the pic's coming, I enjoy looking at your Pileated photo's. One of my favorite birds. Ive seen them, but no luck with photo's yet. :)