A Pileated Woodpecker siting along the Volga River

The other day as I trudged across the yard to begin a trek on cross-country skis, I thought I heard the laugh of the elusive Pileated Woodpecker. We have seen this bird on rare occasions in our wooded hollow where we live, but the species is people-wary.


As I heard the loud, alarming call of the bird I looked up in time to see him winging away high into the sky so I couldn't make positive identification.

But today – as I was on the phone with my mother, I looked up through our very large picture windows to see the Pileated Pillager of wood. The bird was making its way up a branch of a massive bur oak just across the fence. No question about it once I raised my camera with a telephoto lens – it was a 15-inch woodpecker. These birds make relativity large cavities in trees – and abandon them at the end of the breeding season. They are non-migratory however, and much easier to spot in winter months due to the lack of foliage.


According to Wikipedia, Pileated Woodpeckers make such large holes in dead trees that the holes can cause a small tree to break in half. The roost of a Pileated Woodpecker usually has multiple entrance holes. Pileated Woodpeckers have been observed to move to another site any eggs that have fallen out of the nest—a rare habit in birds. The cavity is unlined except for wood chips. "Both parents incubate three to five eggs for 15 or 16 days. The young may take a month to fledge.


Only known to the Eastern part of the state in Iowa, the Pileated Woody is a truly impressive and unforgettable bird. If you'd like to follow a link to a sound file for the woodpecker's laughing call, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pileated_Woodpecker