Pileated Woodpeckers in My Yard!

Pileated Woodpeckers are more easily located when they're calling, but it was this male's leaf flipping that caught my attention and my excitement.  He was in my yard!

Though I had heard Pileated Woodpecker calls several times since moving to my new home, this was the first time I had seen one!

I've moved to a habitat very similar to the one I had been living in previously--a suburban area with wooded edges and mature diciduous and evergreen trees. Among the birds I had hoped to find here were Pileated Woodpeckers.  

This male is excavating a dead limb and likely finding beetle or ant larvae.

Pileated Woodpeckers frequently pause and look skyward while foraging on the ground.  They are large birds, about the size of crows, and lift off slowly so this alertness is essential protection from predators.  In this case, I think he is also watching and listening for his mate.  She was close by and had landed on a trunk near him.

Pileated Woodpeckers stay on their home territory all winter and remain with their mates.  In fact, the winter months are the best and sometimes the only time you can have this kind of intimate observation.  When the leaves pop in the spring, trunks and limbs are harder to see.  Even when you hear their calls or know where they land, woodpeckers disappear behind foliage.

Eventually, the male flew closer to where the female was foraging.  The pair rapidly moved from tree to tree and deeper into the woods and were lost from view.

This sighting affirms that my yard is part of this pair's territory and opens the possibility that I'll have other opportunities to observe this family.   Pileated Woodpeckers are very loyal to their territories.
Above, you can imagine how thick the foliage will be in the spring!

Visit my other Pileated Woodpecker posts on this blog.