My first picture contribution to this site. <SMILE>

I have never seen a female Pileated Woodpecker. At least I don't think I have. That Male is BIG I mean the size of a large raven.

Glad you like him.

wow! that thing is HUGE! thanks for sharing :-)

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*~*Last night I played a blank tape at full blast. The mime next door went nuts.
*~* http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2125497034

Okay these pictures are amazing...There were 3 Pileated Woodpeckers on one tree. Could only fit 2 in the first shot. Then got the second.




Range: Permanent Residents throughout the South West.

Habitat: Mature woods riverbottom hardwoods. Mature pine stands, cypress swamps. Most often choose dead trees for nests. They will excavate a new nest cavity every year.

Food and attracting Pileated Woodpeckers to your yard: Favorite food is Carpenter Ants. They also eat other wood boring insects. They sometimes come to feeders for sunflower seeds, cracked corn, suet mixes with cornmeal and nuts.

Plants that can attract Pileated Woodpeckers: Wild Grapes, Dogwood, Poison Ivy, Sour Gum, Cherries, Sumac, Acorns, and Beechnuts.

I didn't know they hung out together like that. I still have not seen a female Pileated woodpecker.
Maybe someday <sigh>....

Comfrey; I think, they are the coolest birds. Although I do like all birds. Pileated Woodpeckers facinate me because they are so big and because I have never seen a female.

The only difference between the markings of a Female verses a Male is.... the Males have red mustaches, foreheads and crowns with a little more white on his face...the females have black mustaches and foreheads with a red crown.

Here is a link to a picture of a Female.

http://www.naturalhistory.bc.ca/VNHS/Photography/Competition%201999.htm

Hummm maybe my pileated woodpeckers are all females...I do not see any red mustaches on these..No wait the Female has black around her eye and the male has white around his eye..So mine are males..I think..

Where is the bird man when you need him????!!!!

The male Pileated Has a red forehead and a long, thin red patch below the eye, starting at the point the bill attachs to the head and running two thirds the length of the head. The female has a light gray or speckled forehead and no red patch. It appears that the birds in your photographs ARE females. You haven't seen the MALES yet. You see the females all the time.

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A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.

Oh wow Thanks Thornius...Then in fact I proable have seen a female just didn't realize the difference. And the info on the bird book is also helpful...I am going to look into getting one, I still have money for two more books left from Xmas.

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That's the book! I use the Eastern one since I am in Tennessee. Being in Arkansas you could use BOTH.

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A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.

Now, Comfrey, you need binoculars and a fairly good digital camera. Walmart has some Tasco binoculars in the sporting goods section. They have some 7x35 OR 12x25 FOR AROUND $20.00. Although they are dirt cheap, they are quite good especially to learn with. I started out with some Tascos 18 years ago. My first pair lasted 4 years of daily use. As for Digital cameras, get the highest Megapixel and optical zoom you can afford. You want at least 4 megapixel. I use an Olympus D-580 Zoom camera with 4.2 Megapixel and 3X optical zoom. I just tried a Kodak 5.2 Megapixel with 10X optical zoom at Walmart for $298.97! I think I'll save up and get that one next. Rechargeable batteries are best. I got a Ray-O-Vac 15-minute recgargeable battery set that comes with 2 AA batteries and a recharger for about $24.00 at Walmart. The batteries can be recharged at least 1000 times and one recharge lasts for 2-3 days in my camera. When they go dead I plug them into my recharger and 15 minutes later I'm ready to go again.

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A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.

Coolness I have seen a female pileated woodpecker.
You weren't pecked to death by a flock of female pileted woodpeckers...<<silly>>

Well you might be in danger of an attack by pileated woodpeckers if you had carpenter ants on your head...

I had to go back and look the pictures again also and I can see that the three on the tree are indeed female...Wow I guess we learned something on this one Oui. Thank You Thornius!

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Male birds are USUALLY more colorful than the females. In some cases like Blue Jays or Wrens, the sexes are identical. Both sexes of the Pileated Woodpecker are colorful, the males just more so.

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A bird in the hand......can sometimes be a mess.

I have a Kodak EasyShare Z740 with 10X zoom. If you decide on this, buy the whole thing right away. Meaning the printer/charger dock and camera. The printer dock has the charger in in..or you can buy a charger separate. I bought mine at HH Gregg. I had shopped around and found that HH Gregg had the price on this camera $30 cheaper then best buy and radio shack..

HH Gregg has the lowest prices in town on just about everything..

Make sure you ask about the charger...When/if you do decide which camera to get.

Great pictures ! I managed to get one , but it is too far away to see well . They are so elusive . We have lots of them around here . I really enjoy their call . Sice we have so many trees that are suffering from the beetles and borers the woodpeckers have plenty of food !

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Marian: I just bought my field guide. When I signed up for this forum I decided I need to learn more about birds...The learning part has been glorious so far...I cannot imagine it ever getting boring...I have the National Geographic one too...and One called All About Alabama Birds..

I was outside and heard a strange bird sound so looked around until I spotted who was making the the sound...Yes it was Pileated woodpeaker, I didn't realize how much noise they could make.

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I saw a male yesterday. I walked into the kitchen after my shower yesterday, looked out the window and saw something on a thin, spindly branch of a tree, swaying in the breeze. At first I thought it was a hawk, that's how big this sucker is. Then I saw his red head. I went outside wrapped in nothing but a towel to get a picture but he flew away. He flies very low and slow. My sister said there's probably a mate nearby. Guess we'll have babies soon.

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http://www.picturetrail.com/bestofour

You are so funny Thornius

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I was amazed today when I was looking at a fish and game book...State fishing regulations...The center incert was about Pileated & Ivory Billed Woodpecker's, It showed them side by side. Its amazing, because at first glance you would say they are the same bird, but then if you look closer you see the differences...So sitings of the Ivory Bill woodpecker could be mistaken for the Pileated Woodpecker unless you know what you are looking for. Here is a good place to see and hear (Ivory Bill) what they look like and also the difference between the two.

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Yes I would love to see one also, I suppose if a person just floated the rivers they might see one someday...I'm not to fond of being in a boat on water, esp water that is over my head!!!

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quote:

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The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker is th biggest news in decades in the Birding world. The reported sighting is about 200 miles West of me near the Tennessee/Arkansas border.

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I saw a TV show about a sighting of one of them......

that is funny!