Pileated Woodpeckers on the Little Miami Bike Trail (BPW #39)

I hear Pileated Woodpeckers almost every time I go to the trail, but I don’t see them that often. They are just too shy; however, in the past 3 weeks I’ve seen a male and a female foraging together six or seven times…and at close distance! It’s like they’ve moved in and set up house or something, which is probably exactly what they’ve done. I doubt I’ll ever see their nesting cavity though, because there is no way the secretive birds would have excavated a cavity in one in the trees along the pavement (of course I can always hope...). I think they are anchored up the hillside because I hear them calling from that spot almost every time I go there.






One of my best Pileated Woodpecker memories happened earlier this spring at Spring Valley Nature Area. As I was walking down the path west of the lake, this monster bird came up from behind, sweeping overhead and directly down the corridor of trees in front of me. At 17 inches, he is a force to reckon with. Hearing the air under his wings and feeling the energy he left in his wake (being only four or five feet over my head) is a sensation I’ll never forget. Then watching him sail straight down the woodland path at about eye level was a spectacular sight.

To tell a male and female Pileated Woodpecker apart, just check 

out their mustaches. The male's is red and the female's black. 

The above photo shows the male's red mustache.

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