Hello Steemians
Sorry, it's not the sharpest or clearest image of a pileated woodpecker,
but I spent 20 min, moving through the bush and taking shots, she never
stopped moving and always keeping a tree between me and herself.
Clearly a female, due to the lack of a red "mustache" a patch of red
under the eye and behind the beak.
A very large bird, with a striking red crest, and a distinctive call.
They are forest dwellers through Eastern North America, across the
Canadian prairies, and along the Western coast.
You will find them working over dead wood, standing or not......
looking for their favourite food, the carpenter ant. Leaving behind the
very obvious rectangular hole in the wood........
These holes provide shelter for swifts, owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens....
Currently over 2 million birds with an increasing population.
Sometimes they visit backyard suet feeders, and if you have a dead tree
that might attract them as well.