Some days my photographic skills have much to be desired.  This pileated woodpecker is one of a pair that were in my old oak tree.  That tree is over 400 years old and slowly falling apart but the woodpeckers are right at home.  These woodpeckers (also known as cock of the north) are rarely seen but often heard off in the distance. 

Cool Facts

• The Pileated Woodpecker digs characteristically rectangular holes in trees to find ants. These excavations can be so broad and deep that they can cause small trees to break in half.
• A Pileated Woodpecker pair stays together on its territory all year round. It will defend the territory in all seasons, but will tolerate floaters during the winter.
• The feeding excavations of a Pileated Woodpecker are so extensive that they often attract other birds. Other woodpeckers, as well as House Wrens, may come and feed there.
• The Pileated Woodpecker prefers large trees for nesting. In young forests, it will use any large trees remaining from before the forest was cut. Because these trees are larger than the rest of the forest, they present a lightning hazard to the nesting birds.