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Project Noah Nature School
Dryocopus pileatus
Pileated Woodpeckers are the largest woodpecker found in the US and Canada, since the Ivory-billed is no longer around. They require large tracts of forest to forage for carpenter ants and insect grubs in dead and sick trees.
Spotted on Feb 16, 2013
Submitted on Feb 16, 2013
16 Comments
shimmerose, these woodpeckers are the size of an average crow. They're not as common as most other woodpeckers, but aren't an endangered species.
Hi I was woundering how large these birds get ? I saw a couple last year and they were prehistorically huge lol ...
are they endangered do you know?
Thanks Mayra, Fyn and Seema. These guys remind me of an old cartoon character, Woody the Woodpecker.
A red head..literally :)
stunning capture
Thanks Tom!
Beautiful!!
Thanks Lisa. You're pictures are all excellent quality and interesting subjects! I'll have to post more of my amphibian pictures after reading about Froghaven Farm. I hope you'll enjoy my insect book, but the trains are a different Tom Murray.
Awesome spotting Tom! I know how difficult it can be to get a decent shot of these large birds. And your photos transcend 'decent' by a long shot! Welcome to Project Noah, we a re always glad to have such talented folks join us. I will be purchasing your latest book, The Insects of New England & New York in the near future! Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas. We would love to tap you for a blog if you are interested. My email is froghavefarm@hotmail.com
P.S. Love the train books too!
Riekos, I'm with you and hope the Ivory Billed is still around somewhere.
Thanks Carol, and Fyn you've been taking some nice pictures!
Thanks Tom! I'm savin' up! :-)
Wonderful woodpecker.
When I saw a documentary about Ivory-billed woodpecker, I was deeply moved. I hope they are still somewhere on this earth (you may be right, but I don’t think it is definite yet that they are completely extinct).
Hi Fyn, for the bird pictures I'm using a Canon 5D camera with the Canon 500mm lens. The macro's are with either the Canon 100mm or the 65mm lens.
Hi Tom Murray!
You take such amazing pictures and I was wondering... what camera and lens do you use?
Thanks,
Fyn
RiekoS, this one was in the trees around my house and I was able to open an upstairs window and wait until it got to one of the close trees and get a clear shot.
Your pictures of the Pileated came out very nice, better than any I took before this one that I was able to get in close.
I got one so close to me. I wish I could borrow your camera....:-)