excavation

 

Yesterday at a local nature center I found this Pileated Woodpecker performing some major excavation work on a partially dead tree. The bird was using its bill like a chisel to strip off huge swathes of bark. It had already uncovered the bare area to the right and was working its way clockwise around the tree. It would hammer on a section and then nimbly hop away just as a slab of bark separated from the tree and fell to the ground. I was hoping to catch one of these more dramatic moments, but had to settle for the fine-tuning it’s doing here.

Leave a comment

2 Comments

  1. Special K's avatar

    That is the second most stylish bird I’ve ever seen, after a hoopoe. I love this woodpecker’s total commitment, and his studying the problem from all angles before just all-out going for it.

    Like

    Reply

Thoughts?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Recent Posts

  • Navigation Station

    The links along the top of the page are rudimentary attempts at trail markers. Otherwise, see below for more search and browse options.

  • In Search of Lost Time

  • Personal Taxonomy

  • Common Ground

  • Resources

  • BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS