Woodrow! Woodrow has shown a great amount of interest in a snag about 50 feet from our little part-time cabin. This morning he was pretty busy.
Every place we've lived for the last 30 years, or so, has included several pileated woodpeckers. They are very territorial. We believe we currently have four. We call them our North, South, East, and West pileated friends.
Mostly they are very welcome neighbors. I leave several "snags" per acre for all of our wild friends. The West Pileated, who is by far the biggest, attacks the snags out our bedroom window. The East Pileated, who is the smallest, attacks the snags out our kitchen window. We had an old stump out the basement door for several years. Last spring, in just two days, one of our pileated friends reduced it to roots and chips.
Living in a log home with them in the neighborhood is a challenge. We have taken a lot of precautions, but every once in a while, we get carpenter bees or some other buzzing critter in our outside structure. It only takes minutes for a pileated to cause lots of serious damage. Last summer, it took about two full days for carpenters to repair damage the pileateds did in the springtime.
We also have downies, red bellies, and flickers. All are very welcome in our woods and at our feeders.
