• Friday-What'sUP January 17 - 10:03 am

Pileated woodpeckers are normally very skittish around people, so for Donna MacIntosh to have gotten these photos here today, with two of them on her feeder, is pretty amazing. The one with the red stripe on its cheek, is the male, so that's why Donna figured they were able to share the feeder together like that. She said all the other woodpeckers chase the other ones off when they want their turn at the grub Donna puts out there for them.

She snapped these through her sliding glass door and said she was surprised that they were still there after finding her camera and getting back there to snap the photos. She was even able to zoom in to get a close-up look at them. Donna must be providing them with some delectable treats!

Oh yes! Delectable indeed....lol....I melt lard and
peanut butter, and add sunflower seed and mealy
worms. They clean the feeder out almost daily!

And yes, I couldn't believe I got this shot....it
is so hard to catch these birds~!

Nice pix & good detail! The first two look like mirror images.

Love woodpeckers!!

I know someone in particular who will really enjoy these pictures of the pileateds!

Oh, man! This reminds me of a picture I could've taken right outside my Aura window if I'd only had my camera on my lap! If I'd moved to get it, they would've flown away!

Amazing photos, Donna, thank you!

As soon as I saw these two birds lined up on either side of the feeder, I wondered if they bounce each other off with recoil energy as they peck at the goodies. Remember those desktop amusement things that had 5 steel balls suspended on strings and you got them started in various combinations of balls and they bounced off each other in amazing ways? Look up "Newton's Cradle" on Wikipedia. (lol)

Every time this bird(s) shows up on Pasty I ask the same question--how is their name pronounced? Asking again. Some say "pie leeted" while others say "pill-e-ated". Saw my first one about 1963 and I still don't know the correct name.

Cool woodpecker feeder,great idea. I've heard this often, but my experience is that these birds are not that "skittish". Got some pictures of one laying waste to my poor plum tree in Eagle River, and it was in no hurry to leave. I was trying to shoo it away until it gave me the evil eye. Then I got skittish and backed off!

What an extraordinarily beautiful sight! Thank you, Donna, for sharing these shots.

LOL, Dane!;>

Richard Wieber, just call them Heckle & Jeckle. :)

Wow! Stereo!

Richard, my Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (which I keep close at hand) has it pronounced as "pie-lee-ated".

Cool pics, Donna! I've heard 'em but never seen 'em up close and personal. Thank you! And Dane, no matter what the proper pronounciation is, they're still red-headed to me.

My goodness, an influx of pileated birds the past week and a half. I guess the point has been made......

Shirley is correct in the pronunciaton. Here is an audible on it. Click the little speaker on the page.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pileated

Either pronunciation is actually accepted. British ornithologists were the first that we heard using the "pill" pronunciation. We were always taught "pie" in ornithology class. Quite a few bird groups adopted the "pill' sound, and will sternly correct "pie" users still. Pronunciation gazetteers often give both sounds as correct. In America, mostly use "pie", as in "piebald", meaning the same (showing a lot of white in the pattern).