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Bird Column for By Benjamin P. Burtt From C.L. of
Pennellville. A pileated woodpecker began
to take suet from our suet feeder in June and to our great enjoyment, was
here about twice each day for four days. I always thought that these birds
were elusive and stayed away from homes and people. Isn't this one a bit
unusual? Dear C.L.: Yes, pileated
woodpeckers are quite wary and when I see one, it is usually only a glimpse
as it flies off through the woods and out of sight.
CAPTION: The crow-sized
pileated woodpecker inhabits the deep woods, is wary and generally flies away
when people come near. The male is shown in this painting from the
"Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Over the 48 years I have been
writing this column, This is only the fourth report of a fairly tame pileated
woodpecker that regularly visits a suet feeder. There are always a few listed
on the monthly feeder surveys, but they do not usually make a habit of coming
to a feeder. For example, out of 100 reports for the December, 2003 survey, only three people listed the
pileated woodpecker. I do not know whether those birds were just seen in the
yard or whether they came to feed. While this bird lives in the
woods on the 50 acres we own, only once in awhile has it visited my suet
feeder.
Courtesy of John De Pasquale
of Auburn, NY Although it is hard to see
this bird, you can tell it is around when you spot large rectangular or
square holes in trees. While most
holes are three to four inches high, sometimes they are up to 18 inches in
length and 10 inches across. They even may be 8 to 10 inches deep and the
pile of chips on the ground below the tree can be 2 feet deep. Carpenter ants are the
favorite food of this great woodpecker. These ants penetrate the tree from
below ground and eat out the center of it. Their work usually does not show
on the outside. When hunting for food, this
woodpecker first taps the tree here and there. This disturbs the ants and it
can hear them running about. The bird moves over the tree, tapping and then
stops and tilts its head to one side
and listens. When it finds the right spot,
it digs furiously. Large chips fly and chunks half the size of a mans hand
will be cut out and tossed to the ground. When it has opened up the tree as
far as the ants nest, it begins to feed as the insects scatter. It has a tongue especially adapted
for getting insects out of cracks and holes in the tree. It is cylindrical in
shape and consists of a slender bone covered on the outside with a muscular
sheath. The tip is hard and horny and barbed at the end. The tongue moves like a
striking snake. The hard tip can strike a soft bodied insect with quite a
blow, penetrating and fastening itself into the insect so that it can be
drawn back to the mouth. ADAPTED FOR INSECTS When the insects are covered
with a hard outer surface, the barb doesn't work as well. So, for ants and
beetles, the tongue has another feature which enables it to pick them up. At
the end there is a coating of sticky saliva that acts something like
flypaper. When the tongue touches an ant, the insect is held tightly by this
adhesive and soon ends up in the woodpeckers stomach. A special feature of this tongue is a sort of hinge
at the tip. It enables the end of the
tongue to be turned sideways so that it can reach into cracks that are off 90
degrees to the side. TREE SURGEON When one of these great birds
attacks a tree, the property owner initially is upset. However, the bird is
providing a valuable service. According to Southgate Hoyt who studied the
pileated woodpecker as part of his PhD requirements many years ago at
Cornell, the woodpecker never dug into a tree unless there were insects
there. Whenever Hoyt inspected the diggings, he found signs of insect work. If the pileated woodpecker
does peck into your tree, he almost certainly is after ants. His work
generally will remove all of them. In some cases where power
poles are infested with carpenter ants, the pileated has dug into them and
his work in removing the insects weakens the pole. A TAME PILEATED As I mentioned above, I have
heard of other instances where an individual bird is unafraid and comes to a
yard for suet. John Longear at North Rose on It usually
announced its coming with a series of loud squawks. UNDISTURBED BY PHOTOGRAPHER Longyear got some good
pictures of the bird. At first he set his camera on a tripod about 15 feet
from the feeder with a long cable release that he could operate from inside
the kitchen. Not having any way to reset the camera from inside the house, he
had to wait until the bird left before resetting the camera. Later he tried walking up to
the camera while the bird was feeding and he found that this bird allowed him
to stand right at the camera and take all the pictures he wanted! FEW HAVE BEEN SEEN About 35 years ago one did come right into
the The O.A. Brethens of In the winter when insects are
harder to find, about half of the pileated woodpecker's food is fruits and
seeds. Wild or cultivated grapes will often bring one back again and again.
Poison ivy berries persist into the winter and are apparently eaten without
harm. The conelike fruit clusters of the staghorn sumac stay on the plant
through the year and the pileated eats that too. At
feeders nut meats as well as suet will occasionally be eaten. They nest in
holes in large trees in deep woods. The nesting hole is round, not
rectangular like the holes it digs for insects. A few people have been able
to get it to use a nesting box. If you wish to try, make the hole 3 inches in
diameter and 10 to 12 inches above the 8 inch square floor. Put it 12 feet or
higher in a large tree in the woods. If you ever have a pileated
woodpecker around your home or at your feeder, I would be interested to hear
from you.
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