Pecker. Wood Pecker

Sunday morning I decided to go for a quick run before work. I had no real intention of finding anything or even observing anything, but luckily the bird gods were shining down on me and decided to basically scare and confuse the hell out me. I was minding my own business happily bounding down the trail when out of no where I see a flash of bright red. I stop and there about 30 feet from me is a giant woodpecker looking son of a bitch. I am confused, interested, and slightly scared because I had no idea that woodpeckers could get that big. When I say big, I mean as big or even bigger then a crow big. So needless to say seeing a giant, hopefully mutant woodpecker got me a little curious. So after conferring with National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, I was able to identify my quarry as the Pileated Woodpecker, not a mutant...bummer.   

 

Now the Dryocopus pileatus (Pileated Woodpecker) is the largest of the North American woodpeckers, with a body length of 16-19 inches (that's 40-49cm) and a wingspan of 26-30inches (66-75cm). Their range covers most of the eastern US and some of the Pacific Northwest as well as most of Canada. They prefer woodlands with big hard wood trees but adapt easily to whatever forests are around them. Their diet consist of insects and they will go pretty extreme measures to get the tasty anthropoid treats. Their holes are often used for shelter by song birds, owls, and mammals (raccoons often use them). The holes can be so big that smaller trees crumble to the ground like a tree that was gauged out by a pileated woodpecker. Their drumming can heard from far off and they have a jungle bird like call... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efOME6xMEx0

When I go out again later this week I am going to try and find some of their damage and maybe get glimpse of one again myself.