A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Hobbies, Crafts and Creativity The Bird Lovers Forum pileated woodpecker!!!

We don't often get to see these here, but every once in a blue moon, I happen to look out back at just the right moment! Today was the day this year - he was flying around the backyard down by the rock wall, and then settled on a dead branch of a tree in the conservation easement between our property and the house behind us. Way too far to take a clear picture, but I got to watch him for a little bit anyway. YIPPEE!!!

Gotta love those Woody Woodpeckers!

I saw one about three weeks ago across the street from my house. It was the first I had seen in my yard. (Many birders define "yard" as the area that can be viewed and/or heard while standing on your porch or any where in your yard, so that can be roughly a circle around your house, about 1,000 feet in diameter.)

I've only seen one in my yard. I didn't realize what kind of bird it was. It was so big he was having trouble flying.

He wasn't having trouble flying. All Woodpeckers, ESPECIALLY Pileateds, have an odd up and own motion to their flight. They flap two or three times rising upwards then stop flapping for a second or two, dropping back down again. This makes them look like they are riding and invisible roller coaster or going over a series of invisible speed-bumps in the air. It looks sorta like this:

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