Pileated Woodpecker excavations
The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a common visitor in our yard. The size of the woodpecker and its triangular red crest are impossible to miss. The male also has a red stripe on the side of its face.
There is a big spruce tree in our grey woods where the Pileated Woodpecker loves to visit. The hole in the tree and the pile of woodchips below the hole say this woodpecker has been very busy. The woodpeckers drill these holes to get insects.
On a drive to see the Smyth Covered Bridge near Hoyt, New Brunswick, we found a roadside tree with evidence of the Pileated Woodpecker’s industry. The holes are almost a foot in length and deep enough to hide a hand.
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To humans, the best forests may seem to be woods with healthy trees. To provide good habitat for the Pileated Woodpecker, a forest should have lots of dead and fallen trees, to provide food and nesting sites.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2018
nichepoetryandprose 
I’ve been hearing that they are in my area again, and I then I saw one in the woods outside the church a couple of weeks ago. I’d only seen them in pictures before. Your drawing is very nice.
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melissabluefineart
April 27, 2018 at 10:43 am
Hi. Thanks! They can be very noisy. Every morning we have a downy woodpecker stab at our house shingles for a few minutes and it is an ideal wake-up alarm.
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jane tims
May 3, 2018 at 2:36 pm
I guess so! We have a hairy making holes in posts by our front door and that is worrying enough.
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melissabluefineart
May 4, 2018 at 10:17 am
As long as there are actually no bugs there!
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jane tims
May 5, 2018 at 7:42 pm
Exactly!
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melissabluefineart
May 7, 2018 at 10:07 am