This past Tuesday was a beautiful, sunny day with the kind of deep clear blue sky we get sometime in winter. I visited Goose Creek State Park in eastern NC . This park is a mixed forest of large pines and oak and other hardwood stretching along the north shore of the Pamlico Sound. Birding is good here year round. On this trip, it seemed that the woodpeckers were having a homecoming celebration! They were everywhere!! I got pictures of most varieties we see in this area, including the Hairy, Red-bellied, Flicker, Yellow-breasted Sapsucker, Red-headed, as well as the largest( Crow sized) and most striking Pileated. The Pileated Woodpecker is fairly common in this park, but because of their shy behavior, they are not frequently seen. they are more likely to be heard with their loud drumming or their piercing territorial declaration. On most trips here, I may or may not see one, but seldom two. On Tuesday, I saw a record four (record for one day) of these regal birds, the prototype of the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker. The pileated is the only remaining large and striking species left of the original three large woodpeckers in North America. It survives the beautiful Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico’s Sierra Madre mountains, and the Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the U.S., both of which are now extinct.
The Pileated finds food by stripping bark from trees or by probing in holes and rotten areas for beetles, grubs, ants, and other insects. It uses its long, sticky tongue to probe small spaces. The ants, etc, actually stick to the tongue as the bird withdraws it into its mouth. The pictures below show many shots of the Pileated as they hunt in the large pines at Goose Creek. There are also other Woodpecker species as well as a few other birds. Enjoy the pics!
The Pileated finds food by stripping bark from trees or by probing in holes and rotten areas for beetles, grubs, ants, and other insects. It uses its long, sticky tongue to probe small spaces. The ants, etc, actually stick to the tongue as the bird withdraws it into its mouth. The pictures below show many shots of the Pileated as they hunt in the large pines at Goose Creek. There are also other Woodpecker species as well as a few other birds. Enjoy the pics!
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