• Saturday-What'sUP January 8 - 07:37 pm

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the Pileated Woodpecker is a common visitor to your backyard bird feeder, at least not on mine. So, when Donna MacIntosh sent these first two shots, my first reaction was, WOW! These large woodpeckers are known to be quite shy and elusive actually, so it's a treat to have them coming right to your bird feeder like this. I wonder if perhaps it's because Donna's suet feeder is made out of wood and she fills the holes with suet, so the Pileated Woodpecker thinks he's really in the woods pecking his dinner out of a tree? Could be...

Donna's third photo is one of the more common woodpeckers that you normally see dangling from the suet feeders. Looks like it's a Downy Woodpecker, which in the woodpecker kingdom, is the smaller version, whereas the Pileated is the larger version. What a fun hobby, feeding the birds and getting to see all sizes, shapes and species.

I have a friend in Russia named Åâãåíèé Äÿòëîâ(Eugenyi Dyatlov in Russian). His name means Eugene Woodpecker in Russian and he doesn't look at all like these guys. ;-)

It won't let me post in the Cyrillic Alphabet! :-( Oh well, here is a link to his site: http://eugenyi-dyatlov.narod.ru/

Congratulation Donna on some very nice shots of that pileated woodpecker. I think the ones down here in Menominee are very camera shy. I have tried so many times to capture them and they elude me each time.

Bird feeder watching is one of my favorite things.

Dick, needn't go all the way to Russia...all those Yooper Tikkanens are little woodpeckers too.

We have one or two visit our feeders once in a while. They are something to see and watch.

Downy Woodpeckers (and sometimes the larger Hairy
Woodpecker) visit my suet feeders all day long down here in
Northern Illinois during the Winter.

They were the first bird hanging out on my balcony welcoming
me to my new place when I moved in a few years ago :) They
hold a special place in my heart and I love to see the young ones
in the spring get trained by their parents on how to use the suet
feeders...it's so cute!

Oh, I also get the occasional Red Bellied Woodpecker but that is
very seldom...so it's a real treat to see one.

We had a couple destroy a birch near our cottage over a winter. Fortunately, it didn't fall on the cottage. Our neighbors got to watch them, but we missed it! Another time in the summer, there was one on either side of a birch tree three feet from my living room window at the cottage. A perfect picture! I cautiously tried to move from where I was sitting on the couch to reach the camera, but they spied me and flew.

I wonder if anyone has noticed and let it be known the bridge and the calumet cam are not functioning, I dont know if anyone is aware of that or not.

When we lived in Red Jacket, we had a pair of Pileateds that would visit the feeders behind our house. I put out the suet bricks for the Downys and other birds that liked suet, but I always knew when the Pileateds came from the size of the chunks taken out of the bricks. I sure do miss the variety of birds being down here, but we have also had some first time visitors this year; some new sparrows, a warbler, and a bluebird the other day at our feeders. Still, I miss the northern birds, especially the redpolls that we used to get by the hundreds this time of year.....

Thanks again for all the birthday wishes yesterday as well!!

Thanks everyone! I took those pics a couple of weekends ago, during a storm..hence the little white lines...I moved from the house I was in, into an apartment here in Baraga, and am allowed to feed the birds...thank God! And I love this. Love watching the feeders...you can tell when a storm is coming by the goldfinches, doesn't make a difference to the woodpeckers tho...and the pileated is so cool to watch, but real hard to get a picture of. I was lucky with these. My back room has a sliding glass door to the backyard that you see, and that gal (something about the white "eyebrow" and the color of feathers under the wings...this one has white, which makes her a female...at least that's the diff I noticed in the bird book)comes into the woods, high up in a tree first. You can pick that red head out real easy, and she's noisy. (Link to sound: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds )

I love watching these birds...Happy Saturday everone!

And yes...they LOVE their suet...and they do swallow huge chunks...and that's fun to watch..cause they do "bite off more than they can chew"....and they just keep working it back...it's amazing to watch.

Richard J. (Dick_fl):
"It won't let me post in the Cyrillic Alphabet!"

You mean like this: "Евгений Дятлов"?

It can be done! 'Tho I'll admit it isn't obvious, just downright tricky! <grin>

Doug (Greenhermit):
"Dick, needn't go all the way to Russia...all those Yooper Tikkanens are little woodpeckers too."

Now that's a good one, Doug, I love it! (Tikka = Woodpecker)
You can almost hear them at work: Tikka Tikka Tikka! (But delivered at a rapid fire staccato pace.) <smile>

I enjoy seeing pileated woodpeckers now and then during the summer (haven't seen a MI winter since '96--snowdird) but can anyone give me a definitive answer as to the pronunciation of it's name ? Have heard many versions. Please set me straight. Thanks

Capt. Paul was yesterday your birthday too? Happy birthday. I can remember Elvis's birthday cause I was born the day before his third. And I got to see pileateds while I was staying with friends Rita & Harvey last fall near Ellison Bay in Door Co. Impressive sized critters.

Happy belated birthday to you as well, Kay!!

Donna: The Pileated pictured here is a male. The red on the crest goes all the way to the top of the bill and there is a red "cheek" patch. Female no red cheek patch, and red is only on the crest at the top of the head. This can be verified by checking any bird field guide.

Yes these birds are very elusive and cautious but yet curious. They like to play "peek-a-boo" around the tree trunks. They are returning to many of their historic territorys in recent years. We are starting to see them often down here in SE MI after being absent for generations. We even had one here in our yard a couple of times. (St. Clair county) They are always present at our Kalkaska county cottage along with all the other Woodpeckers including now the Red-bellieds which are now established there and seen more & more often in the UP in recent years

Thanks there Russell! I stand corrected..and obviously need to study my bird book a little closer!

When we lived downstate, Auburn Hills, I had a suette cake hanging from the deck and a woodpecker landed on it. It was so funny because it looked like it fell asleep while hanging onto to it. The woodpecker actually started to hang upside down, like it fell asleep. Then I had some yellow flowers on the table and I had yellow finches land on them. I managed to get pictures of the finches. It was fun watching the wildlife.