The Pileated Woodpecker

World Bird Sanctuary staff, volunteers and guests have enjoyed some new sanctuary residents for the past few months.  A Pileated Woodpecker (Hylatomus pileatus, formerly Dryocopus pileatus) pair has taken up residence in the woods near the nature center.

Pileated Woodpecker pair_note the full red crown on the male at the left, while the female has only a partial red crown (photo: wikipedia)

The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America, measuring 15.7–19.3 inches in length with a wingspan of 26-29.5 inches.  They are nearly the same size as an American Crow!  They have a large black body, with white stripes on their head, a long neck, and sport a beautiful sweeping, triangular red crest atop their head.  Males have an additional red stripe on the face.  The beak is long and chisel-shaped, which is perfect for pecking trees in search of insects.  Their long, barbed tongue will then probe the opened tree (or log) and pull the insects out. This tongue is so long it actually wraps up and around the back of the skull when not in use.

This woodpecker used to be far more common – especially in the eastern half of the United States.  As trees were cut down in great numbers in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, their numbers declined rapidly.  However, since the turn of the 20^th century, they have been increasing in number again.  Because of this, the sighting of a Pileated Woodpecker often invokes pure joy, even in a seasoned birdwatcher.

These woodpeckers are monogamous and hold a very large, year-round territory.  Unless you are lucky enough to see the young fledglings flying and foraging together, it is rare to see more than two at one time in any given area.  This territory is fiercely defended with loud drumming and ringing calls.  If one woodpecker of the pair loses its mate, it will however, take another.

A female Pileated Woodpecker searching a log for ants (photo: wikipedia)

Their very favorite food is carpenter ants, but they will also eat other ants, wood-boring beetle larvae, termites, and other insects such as flies, spruce budworm, caterpillars, cockroaches, and grasshoppers.  They also enjoy wild fruits and nuts; including greenbrier, hackberry, sassafras, blackberries, sumac berries, poison ivy, holly, dogwood, persimmon, and elderberry.  When looking for food they will excavate a characteristically rectangular hole in the tree.  They sometimes make such large holes that they can break a smaller tree in half.  Other birds – such as house wrens and other woodpeckers - may also come to enjoy the many insects revealed by the massive Pileated Woodpecker excavation.

A male Pileated Woodpecker excavating a tree in its search for insects (photo: wikipedia)

Their long, graceful neck comes into great use when the woodpecker is pecking the tree.  The longer neck allows the bird to pull its head further back from the tree to obtain a longer and stronger pecking action.  They will also simultaneously pull with their feet to increase the strength of the blow. 

A spongy, plate-like bone structure in the skull protects the birds' brains from injury during this aggressive process. They also have little subdural space between their brains and their skulls, so the brain does not have room to bump around as it would in humans.  In addition to this, their brains are longer top-to-bottom than front-to-back, meaning the force against the skull is spread over a larger brain area.  This unique anatomy has been the inspiration for vehicle shock absorbers in aircraft and spacecraft, for improving seat belts, and for designing better sports helmets.

A Pileated Woodpecker feeding from a suet feeder strategically placed amongst a grove of large trees (photo: Gay Schroer)

Pileated woodpeckers will live among both deciduous and coniferous trees.  For nesting sites, they choose the largest, oldest, dead tree in the forest.  These trees are not easy to come by, as the woodpeckers compete with around 85 other species of birds and about 45 species of mammals for the rights to this perfect nesting site.  The male woodpecker will shoulder the majority of the work when excavating their nesting cavity.  The female generally contributes when the hole is near completion, at about 10-24 inches in depth. These birds do not line their nests with anything except some of the leftover wood chips.

Three to five white eggs are laid in the nest and are incubated by both the male and the female.  The male generally takes the majority of the night shift and part of the day.  The nestlings are fed by regurgitation from the parents and they will leave the nest 26-28 days after hatching.  However, the youngsters may remain with the parents for an additional 2-3 months.

Pileated woodpeckers are fun to watch.  It is always a little surprising to see such an unusually large bird fly by!

 Come out to the World Bird Sanctuary and spend the afternoon walking and relaxing.  Have a picnic lunch on the grounds and do some bird watching, either strolling our grounds or sitting on our conveniently placed benches. Our surrounding hardwood forest attracts a wonderful collection of wild birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and insects. Take your time to breathe in the beautiful outdoors. Your peaceful, quiet day just might be interrupted by the raucous call and foraging drumming of the Pileated Woodpecker!

Submitted by Dawn Trainor Griffard, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist

How to Help Birds in Winter

The cold months of winter can be strenuous on local wildlife such as birds.  As temperatures drop, food becomes even harder to find, yet creatures big and small must continue to survive in these harsh conditions. 

A Fox Sparrow feeding on extra seed scattered on a walkway during a snowstorm (photo: Gay Schroer)

Birds have to expend extra energy in order to stay warm during the winter.  Naturally, birds do have cozy down feathers and a special gland that helps keep their feathers waterproof through all sorts of weather conditions.  Birds can also puff up their feathers. The act traps air within outer feathers, which helps keep warmth inside feathers closer to the body for extra insulation.  But staying warm in the winter costs more energy than in the warmer months.  There are many ways you can help out your local wildlife right at home.

Feeders come in all shapes & sizes.  This one holds several suet blocks (photo: Gay Schroer)

Providing feeders for songbirds is a fun way to help birds in your own backyard.  By supplying foods like suet or even peanut butter, it gives birds a great source of fat and protein.  This food source keeps birds’ metabolisms up and helps them maintain their average 104 degree body temperature.

Finches appreciate thistle seed feeders (photo: Gay Schroer)

 You can also put out birdfeeders with nyjer thistle seed for finches.  Nyjer thistle is high in fat, and it is sure to attract birds such as House Finches, Purple Finches, Goldfinches, and Pine Siskins.  By offering black sunflower seeds in your feeder, you will likely attract a wide variety of birds such as Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Mourning Doves, grosbeaks, and more.  These bird feeders will help local songbirds by giving them a stable food supply during winter.  Birds begin to look for good food sources as early as the beginning of fall, so getting feeders up during that time will best attract them.

A Northern Mockingbird taking advantage of a nut feeder (photo: Gay Schroer)

In the winter, fresh water is harder to come by as water sources freeze.  Birds can dehydrate more easily in the winter as drinking water becomes harder to find.  By providing a water source such as a birdbath, you can help your local birds stay hydrated and healthy.  Even better, a heated birdbath is a very popular spot for winter birds.  When choosing a birdbath, plastic or resin birdbaths are more resistant to shattering in the wintertime during ice removal and melting.  It is never a good idea to pour boiling water on a frozen birdbath however, as it might shatter your birdbath.  Instead, warm water will do just fine.

In the winter birdhouses are used for roosts (photo: Gay Schroer)

Another thing you can do for your local birds is to provide roosts for them.  A roost is a place where a bird spends the night (or day, if you are an owl).  This can be done either by putting out birdhouses or even by providing more trees such as conifers or evergreens.  A cozy birdhouse will be appreciated by your local bird friends.  There are numerous birdhouse building plans available online, as well as premade birdhouses you can buy at retail stores, such as Lowes, Walmart, Home Depot, Wild Birds Unlimited as well as numerous hardware stores, co-ops, feed stores and other stores that sell bird seed, scattered throughout your area.  You can even attract specific species of birds by choosing certain birdhouse designs.

A Northern Flicker sheltering from the wind at the base of a large tree (photo: Gay Schroer)

Through providing feeders, fresh water, and roosts, you can really help out the local birds in your area during winter.  Not only will you help the birds out, but you will also have a lot of colorful backyard visitors to watch and enjoy all season long.

Submitted by Paige Davis, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist

The Pileated Woodpecker

The Pileated Woodpecker is by far my favorite of the woodpeckers. 

A Pileated Woodpecker at a suet feeder (photo: Gay Schroer)

It is a large bird, about the size of an American Crow, with a large red head crest, a long neck and the black and white body that characterizes the woodpeckers.  There is no doubt when identifying this beautiful bird.  The most wondrous characteristic of this bird is its high, clear series of piping vocalizations that lasts several seconds.  For me, it can be easy to confuse the Pileated Woodpecker vocalization  with the Northern Flicker’s loud, rolling rattle that rises and falls in volume.

Pileated Woodpeckers are common year round in the extreme northwestern United States, all lands east of Texas, and across Canada where there are trees big enough for Pileateds to drill a nest cavity.  They are forest birds that can be found foraging primarily for carpenter ants, as well as other insects and a great deal of fruits and nuts, in standing dead trees and downed wood.  They live in mature deciduous or mixed deciduous-coniferous forests.  In the west, they are often found in old growth forests, where in the east they are found in young forests as well as partially wooded suburbs.

A Pileated Woodpecker at another type of suet feeder (photo: Gay Schroer)

This species is monogamous and a pair will defend its territory against other Pileateds all year round, but it will allow some trespassers during the winter non-breeding months.  When an individual dies, the other will go in search of a new mate. 

During nesting season the males will excavate a nest cavity, but the female will assist in lining the nest with woodchips.  This process takes approximately 3-6 weeks.  Nest entrances are not circular like other woodpecker holes; rather they are oblong.  Clutch size ranges from 3-5 eggs,.which take 15-18 days to incubate.  The chicks take approximately a month to fledge, or fly from the nest.  Nests are rarely used again after the breeding season, but other birds and mammals will often use them.

Dead trees are an excellent source of food and shelter; therefore, there is a great deal of competition for territory with other animals.  Not only do other woodpeckers feed on insects from dead trees, but these nesting sites are highly prized.  Wood Ducks, European Starlings, Eastern Bluebirds, and Great Crested Flycatchers will compete for nest sites and, at times, a Pileated Woodpecker will be found sharing a nest with bats or swifts.

The next time you visit the World Bird Sanctuary keep your eyes and ears open for the sight or sound of the Pileated Woodpeckers that inhabit our woods.

Submitted by Leigh French, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist/Trainer   

My Ah-Hah! Moment

I’m very fortunate to have a job that I enjoy doing.  Every morning, I wake up excited to come to work.

I get to work with amazing animals, learn from the rest of the knowledgeable staff at the World Bird Sanctuary and share my passion for birds with the visitors who come to the Sanctuary.  However, I wasn’t always a “bird nerd.”  In fact, I’ve come a long way from where I thought I would be five years ago…

Emily (in blue) puts her theater experience to good use while performing with the Raptor Project

Back in high school, I was an avid performer.  The Drama Club was my home base, and I never missed an opportunity to audition for a school play.  I carried this love of theatre with me to college, where I was convinced that I was going to major in theater and continue on to Broadway.  I stuck with the major for about a year…   but somewhere along the line, I became unconvinced that theater was the path for me.  Though theater was very enjoyable to me, I was unwilling to leave St. Louis to pursue a career in New York or L.A.  There was also the chance that I might not be discovered… and remain a starving artist for a good while.  Because of this unappealing prospect, I began to look elsewhere for something that would stir my passions.

Always keep the binoculars handy

Even back when I was a drama kid, I had always enjoyed watching the birds come hang out at the feeder in the back yard.  I observed legions of cardinals, titmice, chickadees and juncos every winter.  When my mom would tell me to go fill the bird feeder, I would happily slip on the closest boots and coat and trudge through the snow to the feeder, filling it with delicious black oil sunflower seeds to keep our visitors happy.  The summer after my freshman year of college I paid closer attention than ever to the birds that came to the feeder…now observing the summer residents of goldfinches, house finches, and Eurasian tree sparrows.  Maybe in this hobby I could find something exciting… but it was the appearance of a completely new and extraordinary bird that cemented my passions.

My Ah-Ha! bird--a Pileated Woodpecker

I was in the backyard with my mom, planting flowers around the perimeter of our patio.  She and I had been talking for days about what I could major in, now that I was no longer sure about theatre.  As we were talking, we heard a strange call coming from the front of the house.  It was a kind of laughing call--raucous and loud.  We stopped to listen, following the sound from the front of the house to the side yard… and then, an enormous bird flap-bounded into view.  It flowed gracefully up through the yard and perched on the side of a redbud tree trunk some hundred yards away from us.  Its matte black back and white facial stripes were clearly visible, as was its massive beak.  But the most striking part of this bird was the flame-red crest crowning its head.  I was beside myself.  I had read about these birds before, of course.  They were legendary in my family, not one of us having had more than a glimpse before, and now, here it was clinging so quietly to the side of the tree, as though saying, “You wanted to see me?  Well, here I am!”  My mom and I watched in awe for a solid five minutes until the bird flew away, presumably to inspire another birdwatcher.

Emily finds her theater training helps with presenting education programs to large audiences

Seeing that Pileated Woodpecker was my “Ah-Hah!” moment.  Before that point, I was unsure of myself--unsure as to where my life was going to go.  After that moment, and that bird, the pieces all started to fall into place.  I changed my major from theater to biology.  I started reading up on all of the ornithological literature I could find.  I birded like crazy during my family vacation to Michigan that year… and I visited a place called World Bird Sanctuary, to inquire about an internship… and the rest, as they say, is history.

Submitted by Emily Hall, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist/Trainer

Cool Facts About a Cool Bird!

Who is that bird out there that looks suspiciously like Woody Woodpecker?

Cool Fact #1

The fact of the matter is, that bird (the Pileated Woodpecker) was, in fact, the inspiration for the world famous cartoon character.

Cool Fact #2

The roost of a Pileated Woodpecker usually has multiple entrance holes and is normally located  in old growth forests where one finds the large trees it prefers.  

Cool Fact #3

Pileated Woodpeckers characteristically dig rectangular holes in trees to find ants.  These excavations can be so large that they can cause small trees to break in half.

Cool Fact #4

A Pileated Woodpecker pair stays together on its territory year round.  Their range covers the the eastern half of the United States as well as the southern Canadian provinces, with a rather narrow band extending down the West Coast of the U.S.  We in Missouri are fortunate to be in their year round range.

Cool Fact #5

The male and female can be told apart by their markings.  The male has a red crown and forehead, and red in the black mustache stripe.  The female has a gray to yellow-brown forehead and no red in the mustache stripe.

Cool Fact #6

When walking in the woods you may hear rather than see these large crow sized birds.  They can be heard calling to each other with a very loud "kuk-kuk-kuk" call.  Usually if you hear one call you will soon hear a response from another direction.

A Woodpecker By Any Other Name....

Is it pronounced "pill-ee-ated" or "pile-ee-ated"?

According to the Natureworks website, either prounciation is correct.  But, no matter which way you choose to pronounce it, this large native woodpecker (second only to the nearly extinct Ivory Billed Woodpecker), is a very wary and elusive creature--at least for this photographer!

I had been trying for months to capture photos of a pair that my husband said had been coming to the suet feeder at our little lake cabin.  However, each time I would lay in wait with camera ready, they didn't appear.  Or, if they did appear, they fled at the slightest movement, unlike their smaller cousins the Red-bellied woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers or downy woodpeckers who are regular visitors to our feeders and don't seem to care if anyone is watching.

Finally, one January weekend when we had our eight year old granddaughter with us, we spotted the female at the suet feeder on our deck.  Now, if you know anything at all about eight year olds, you know that sitting still for more than three minutes ranks right up there with cruel and unusual punishment!  However, she's been watching birds with me since before she could walk, so with many reminders about sitting absolutely still we were able to capture these photos through the glass of the kitchen window.  Even then, the bird knew that something wasn't quite right and she played hide and seek with us from behind the tree trunk for quite a while.  I was quite excited to have gotten the photos--but not nearly as excited as I was about having shared the moment with my granddaughter, who hopefully will someday pass this experience on to another generation.