Have you ever been walking in the woods and heard a loud drumming or the rat-a-tat-tat echo of something banging on a hollow log? Chances are, it was one of these guys — the magnificent pileated woodpecker.
Roughly the size of a crow, they are the largest woodpecker in North America and can be found throughout Tennessee’s woodlands and rural areas. If you are lucky enough to see one, they can be skittish, so be quiet and still while observing them. These gregarious birds will likely put on a show foraging and sending tree bark flying.
I heard this young pileated banging on a tree above me for several minutes before I saw him at Radnor Lake State Park in Nashville. The distinctive red streak extending back from the lower jaw identifies this bird as a male. Females are marked identically but without the red streak.
They are monogamous but will find another mate if one of the pair dies. They have three to five eggs in each clutch with both parents feeding and caring for the young, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
At first, this pileated was too far away and among too many thick trees to get a clear shot. As I watched, it flew from tree to tree, repeatedly pecking vociferously at the tree bark, cocking its head to the side to listen intently for hidden insects and then returning to pecking as it located various insects and larvae.
After observing it from a distance for several minutes, it left the tree and glided down to the forest floor only 20 feet away from me. It ignored me for the most part and began to forage. Tearing up the decomposing limbs with each peck, it successfully found and consumed several large larvae exposed in the crevices.
Once it finally had its fill, it flew back into the woods, cackling until it landed somewhere out of sight.
Pileateds always make me smile. Perhaps because seeing them makes me reminisce about the simple Saturday mornings when my brother and I would invariably watch “Woody Woodpecker” cartoons.
It is said that cartoonist Walter Lantz did, in fact, use the pileated woodpecker as a model for his most famous character — Woody. After watching their gregarious nature and hearing their unique calls, I can see why they were the perfect model.
To hear their call and learn more about pileateds, check out allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker.
And dig out those special 8mm movie reels if you have them or simply google “Woody Woodpecker cartoons” to enjoy these classics.
“Pileated Woodpecker”
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, EF 200-400mm f 4L IS USM 1.4 EXT lens at 560mm, ISO 3,200, f5.6 at 1/1,600 second, Gitzo tripod
