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.

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2 Comments

  1. 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.

    Reply
    • They’re definitely fascinating to watch. And their calls are among the wildest sounds heard in the woods around here.

      Reply

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