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DRH
11-04-2016, 06:21 PM
I happened to get this snapshot of a pileated woodpecker in our front yard this afternoon. They are very impressive birds!

http://echoshores.com/Photos/IMG_1325.jpg
Slickcraft
11-04-2016, 07:29 PM
Very nice photo.

Now maybe the bad news. We had a pair of them going at the base of a tree on the island a few years ago. Impressive what they can do to a tree if it is full of carpenter ants. A short while later the tree had to come down.
DRH
11-04-2016, 08:04 PM
Very nice photo.

Now maybe the bad news. We had a pair of them going at the base of a tree on the island a few years ago. Impressive what they can do to a tree if it is full of carpenter ants. A short while later the tree had to come down.Yes, I know about the "bad news"! Pileateds are very destructive and can damage trees so badly they don't survive. Fortunately, this particular bird poked around the ground for a few minutes and then flew off, hopefully not to return.
ishoot308
11-04-2016, 08:08 PM
Great pic DRH!!

Thanks for sharing it!

Dan
rick35
11-04-2016, 10:16 PM
They are beautiful birds and impressive growing to about 15 inches tall. Their tongue wraps around their brain as a kind of shock obsorber which you have to google to appreciate how it works. Someone told me that their call is kind of like jungle noises and it made sense when I saw and heard them in my back yard wailing away on a dead tree.
dayvsea
11-05-2016, 07:27 AM
Yah they are really something to see aren't they? And if they were going to go to town on that tree...believe me, you'd know it! :laugh:
Orion
11-05-2016, 10:08 AM
Yes, I know about the "bad news"! Pileateds are very destructive and can damage trees so badly they don't survive. Fortunately, this particular bird poked around the ground for a few minutes and then flew off, hopefully not to return.

If the pileateds are boring heavily into your trees, they are likely pretty well infested with wood-boring grubs and they are being damaged from the inside. They are letting you know that this tree is dying and you wouldn't otherwise know the tree is already at risk of coming down in a storm at some point in the future.
Slickcraft
11-05-2016, 10:25 AM
If the pileateds are boring heavily into your trees, they are likely pretty well infested with wood-boring grubs and they are being damaged from the inside. They are letting you know that this tree is dying and you wouldn't otherwise know the tree is already at risk of coming down in a storm at some point in the future.

Correct, in our case it was carpenter ants. The tree was pretty well hollowed out in the center and ready to be blown down.

That is Peter from White Mt Tree Service.
http://www.whitemountaintreeservice.com/
Airedale1
11-05-2016, 10:09 PM
Very nice shot! They sure are cool birds.
secondcurve
11-07-2016, 06:12 PM
Correct, in our case it was carpenter ants. The tree was pretty well hollowed out in the center and ready to be blown down.

That is Peter from White Mt Tree Service.
http://www.whitemountaintreeservice.com/

These guys certainly earn their money. You never knows when a tree is weaker than expected and it suddenly comes down unexpectedly.