Pielated woodpecker

[warren46]

I went out to my truck after lunch today and heard someone pounding on a large red oak next to the drive way.  I looked up to see a woodpecker about the size of a crow pounding away on the trunk about forty feet up on the tree.  The bird did quite a bit of damage making a hole about 8" X 4" that must be 4" deep.

Any one know of a way to discourage the bird?

[whiskers]

2 3/4", 1 1/8oz  #6

[JBlain]

My experience is they very seldom attack trees without some underlying quality issues like decay inside.  They test tap a lot and when they hear insects,  they make the classic 4 in oblong hole.  Makes great den trees. 

[thecfarm]

As posted must be bugs in that tree.



 



 

I have a picture of one. I see the damage they do,but rarely see the bird.

[21incher]

I had one of them also. It moved on after it got all the bugs in the wood.


 

[Gearbox]

We have a family of them . They feed on the wood pecker block right on the edge of the deck . The only damage I see here is to dead trees . In the spring they will pound on metal to attract a mate .

[Den Socling]

They are fairly common up here but not this time of year. I'd also recommend to just let them do their thing - hunt bugs. If you find a comfortable spot to watch one in action, it's pretty interesting. Rotten wood flies!

[JBlain]

 It is great watching them work.  Last huntin season, I watched 4 of them eating grapes off a wild grape vine in a big hickory.

  

 

[Jeff]

2 3/4", 1 1/8oz  #6

They are federally protected.

[Den Socling]

They should be. They look like pterodactyls!

[pineywoods]

I read somewhere that their favorite food is the big black carpenter ants we find in pith cracks...

[Kbeitz]

We had problems at Grizzly Tools with them eating the Bear.
I used sticky traps to discourage them .



 

[Den Socling]

That was near Williamsport?

[MikeON]

This pine log had bugs in it.  Didn't take long for the woodpecker to find them.


 

[drobertson]

Pretty sure we have two separate breeding pairs, they are busy all through fall and early winter, a blast to watch them circle and chase around the trunks,

[Kbeitz]

That was near Williamsport?

Sure was... Muncy store...

[Ljohnsaw]

We have a smaller woodpecker out here that plays havoc with the cabins around where I'm building.  Main reason I'm going with Hardie-plank siding ;)

They bore holes in the siding to make nests in the walls.  My neighbors re-sided their place (with Hardie).  Besides the contractor's workers being attacked by yellow jackets, they found some dead wood peckers.  Over the years, previous owners would nail up some sheet metal over holes.  Some wood peckers were trapped in the process.  There were two mummified ones.

[Den Socling]

"Sure was... Muncy store..."

I loved that store! The greatest on earth for tools and it broke my heart when I saw it closed.  :(

It's hard to believe a woodpecker would go after the treated wood in that bear.

Also, I see they must be up here in the winter. I just don't spend enough time outside to see them.

[Savannahdan]

I also enjoy watching them chase each other around a tree.  Several years ago had 4 or so flying together around our live oak trees.  I also get the occasional Red Cockaded Woodpecker which next in longleaf pine.

[Rural]

We have the Pilated, RedBellied, Hairy & Downy woodpeckers here and all but the Pilated come to the suet feeder regularly. They dont seem to damage heathy trees and only rarely go at our board and batten siding presumably because insects are wintering in behind, the pilated sure does a number on dead or dieing basswood though!

[Kbeitz]

I have no idea what kind we have but some of the larger ones is
I bet 24" from beak to tail.

[Bruno of NH]

The woodpecker's keep me working all summer at my condo repair contract .
They hammer the 1x8 pine shiplap going at the carpenter ants.
We have them all big,medium and small
They went crazy this year

[petefrom bearswamp]

We have all of the species noted by Rural, but have never seen the Pileated at the suet feeder, or for that matter in the winter here.
Pileated are my favorites.

[WV Sawmiller]

   we have many pileated woodpeckers here on my place and in the area. Locally I think they are called Wood hens. They are one of my favorite birds. They will occasionally light on the ground and hunt in fallen trees and roots. I agree they are not likey doing any damage to healthy trees and they make great dens for many other animals.

   In college I did a research paper on the Ivory Billed woodpecker which was thought to be extinct till a few years ago when a bird or two was spotted in a swamp in Arkansas. During the course of the research I found one of the last places Ivory Bills were thought to exist was in Pumpkin Swamp in Dixie County Fla. When I was a kid I remember hunting in Pumpkin Swamp with my grandfather who lived there. Grandpa told us "Them big wood peckers are good eating if you get a shot at one but they aren't near as common as they used to be." So during my research I learned my grandfather and his hunting buddies may have been responsible for the demise of the Ivory billed wood pecker.

   Anyway, enjoy your Pileated woodpeckers. We have them, little downy woodpeckers, a few Yellowhammers (Great Northern Flickers) and Redbellied woodpeckers I see from my deer stands and I love them all.

[warren46]

The group seems to agree that the peliated wood peckers generally do not attack healthy trees.  This particular red oak is about 60 to 70 feet tall.  There are no dead branches of other signs of decline.  This bird seems to be an exception.  I do not want to lose this tree but nature will run its course.

Warren