Pileated Woodpecker ...

This was the first Pileated we had here ...after that I built the first Cedar Tripple stack suet feeder.

Very common here in south central Ohio.

Cool bird, used to see them in mn

Very nice.Quite a few around here also.

Someday here Im going to make some of the Birds fav.homrmade Suet!

Your thread has got my friend to build a feeder like you posted several years ago for them, now they are daily visitors to his.

Was ice fishing years back in a remote lake @ -35 and there was 3 loud WACKS, WACKs, WACKS, I hit the deck thinking someone was shooting at me in first light with a frost fog over the lake, thinking I was a wolf.........after I brushed the snow off my face...the male Pileated called. What a relief.

Got quite a few here

Thats Funny....they are Loud Birds!

We have quite a few here..I bet there will be even more since the emerald ash borer is on the scene

Not so many around here but have had a resident pair for a few years now. I love the sound they make.

Could you post those plans, thanks

Getting there...I didnt have plans...just made them from 2 x8 cedar 2' long

We have a couple different pairs nesting on our property. Both near some of my hunting stands. Early season they are still near the nest holes in hollowed out trees. All winter they are daily visitors to the suet feeders!

Chris

Their tails have to be supported on the bottoms and their heads are 6-8 inches higher than where they land, so you suit is high. I have only seen the with heads up as well when working bait.

I thought of putting a Suet feeder near my stand just to watch birds and deer. Havent done it yet

I think about doing the same thing every season-still haven't done it.

Thanks for the picture, I will build on tomorrow.

I like watching them here. They are kind of goof balls at the feeders.

Heck I thought they were a Southern bird. We have heaps of them down here. Too many sometimes. About as annoying as crows. You won’t fall asleep in the woods with those around.

Lets Do it!!! Next Season....its gonna happen!

Sorry I dont have plans! I made my own

The wire is 1" x1/2" cage wire.

Had one in the back yard...what a racket !

What's in the sack? I know it's suet, but exactly what?

If you have PW around you also have dead trees in the area.

Backbreaker, just regular beef suet from the local butcher is what I use. They all love it.

Just cut in chunks that fill a suet cage with a clip to hold it closed.

I have two PW that enjoy mine for some years now.

No matter where Ive lived, they will find new feeder stations.

I love their rolling flight as they call with that "scared chook" sound

Nice pic, Scott.

They were common when I was a kid,they drilled big long holes in the giant white pines in the back yard.

They are cool birds....I guess.

Almost all the timbermen in TN. I knew hated the things. Got blamed for killing a lot of trees.

I easily go thru the 75-100 lbs of deer suet and scrap from our groups butchering each winter. The stuff is as valuable as the venison we get to me. I have a 4" by 4' tall heavy wire mesh tube feeder attached to the top of a post they love. My best is five PW's at one time. I really don't want one of them flying into a window anytime, lol.

A study in Alberta tracked how many cavities that a newly mated pair made. In their new home range they needed 10 cavity structure and moved between them all the time. Popular trees were their main tree for nesting even though they had pines and jack pines of the 12-14 inch diameter to build in. There was a large increase in marten activity once these homes were made.

They only come in when there is insect ie; carpenter ants colonies established and these trees are infected with a root rot disease for the ants to come in for the symbiotic fungus/ feeding channels they live in.

Two summers ago, we had a pileated woodpecker start beating on a dead aspen tree. We figured if it ever fell, it might be close to nailing the cabin. Over that winter, the pileated was busy. Come spring, the top 20 ft were on the ground and now we don’t have to worry about the cabin being damaged.

Curious to how they killed trees ? The reason they bore holes into a tree, is because the tree has a insect infestation, (ants, etc..) and the woodpeckers are simply trying to access the insects, who are most likely the ones killing the tree.

More likely why timber men dislike them, is because woodpeckers create a defect in lumber called bird peck, which devalues the hardwood lumber, and veneer logs.

I like the way the bottom of those feeders give the pileated woodpeckers a place to use their tails for support.

The pileateds in my woods make big sap wells. they killed a few beech trees. But I don't mind, I just cut them down and turn them into firewood.

Gryhkl,

When I took that picture on top ^^^ Is when I built my First Suet feeder Specifically for the Big Pileateds
I looked around and could find smaller feeders with taild but nothing FSale as long as I wanted mine.


Backbreaker...Beef lard suet I made back then...recipe called "no melt" but I add rasins , cherries other ingredients depending oon what I have available.

Thanks Sharon...surely no picture like Jonathan took!

Drakej. Do you feed just the raw deer fat?

I don't believe they do any damage to healthy trees. And they do help cavity nesting critters make good use of standing dead and dying trees.
We have always had a few around my shack and the numbers seem to be up, probably because there is so much dead ash standing.

Needless to say They're my Favorite bird Here!!

I don't cut down the large dead standing trees here.

Thanks 330. Pretty common here but never been able to get them to my feeder. Most woodpeckers there though.

Funny, one just showed up at my feeder the same time I saw your post. Tried to get a picture but it flew off just as I was pulling the trigger. Maybe later.

OK, Got him...blurry but it's what I am good at...blurry photos.



I have watched them do major damage to my neighbor's cedar siding on their house and garage.

You’re wrong, they do. I’ll post some pics of a pair making a large sap well in one of my beech trees. The tree died two years later. There are others too.

If you wonder if you have any Pileated Woodpeckers in your area, hang some suet and they will come. We also have a red-bellied woodpecker that's a daily customer too. We call him Homer.

About 2 months ago, we bought a half of beef. I told my wife to make sure she gets the suet. She forgot. I did have some suet and bloodshot parts from the deer I got this year. That's long gone. Now, I get to pay $2.49 per pound for suet.

i see a couple every year do the females look the same as the males?

Nope, the male has a dark red cheek stripe and the female's is black.

The red is so dark that it is hard to distinguish at times. You can barely make it out (i think) in the male that I just photographed (blurry).

Great picture MnMan, better than I take.

A Frenchman asked me one time-"What chew call dat bird dat smash his face against de tree"?

Hahaha Thats funny!

See some fly over here often but they won't eat the suet. Even smaller woodpeckers don't feed on it. Maybe need to hang a sign up says Try it you will like it. Snow birds and a couple pair of cardinals is about our only feeder group. We have tried Peanuts in the shell and shelled but not cooked, millet, milo, and black sunflower seed as well. Guess they have too much local stuff to feed on.

Thats odd Drifter

I have the best luck with the Homemade suet

But even now being out of lard....they are eating store bought

Had a pair here at the same time a minute ago and had to take a blurry photo through two panes of dirty glass with shaky hands. I did not dare to open the windows since they are so spooky. Kind of cool to see two at a time working opposite sides of the suet. They go through it in a hurry lately.




Male on the left and female on the right.

Cool picture MnMan!!!

I was wondering the other day why all the smaller Woodpecker species are calm almost tame when I refill the feeder. But the Jumbo Lg. Birds all seem so spooky