One Crazy, Swingin’ Red Head

This is a Pileated Woodpecker.  These birds are huge.  It’s become a regular visitor to the jumbo suet feeder in our yard.  The jumbo feeder is about 5 times the size of a normal suet feeder, and this bird makes it look small. The feeder hangs from a tree limb and acts like a swing when this big bruiser is hanging on.

These are strange looking birds.  It’s believed a Pileated’s red crest and sound was inspiration for the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker.

According to Wikipedia.org – – The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a very large North American woodpecker, almost crow sized, inhabiting deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific coast. It is also the largest woodpecker in America.

The call is a wild laugh, similar to the Northern Flicker. Its drumming can be very loud, often sounding like someone striking a tree with a hammer. This bird favors mature forests, but has adapted to use second-growth stands and heavily wooded parks as well.

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