A Pileated Woodpecker...

[frankmcr]

I'm not against hunting, but since when is a woodpecker a game bird?

[catdaddy]

Originally Posted by Martz911

We've had a redheaded woodpecker visiting our bird feeder here in northeastern Florida. And it even gets along with a family of bluebirds munching on mealworms in our flat feeder.

The woodpecker in your beautiful photos is actually a red-bellied woodpecker (so named because they have a faintly reddish tint on the feathers of their breast). A different woodpecker has the distinction of being called the redheaded woodpecker. Here's a photo (not mine) of the redheaded woodpecker:

[catdaddy]

Originally Posted by Cypress Knee

When I was growing up in Louisiana we called the pileated woodpeckers "Tarzan birds" because you could hear them in all the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies.

Those Tarzan movies used the call of an Australian bird called a Kookaburra, not pileated woodpeckers. As a kid you might have heard the woodpecker's call as something similar to what you heard in the movies.

From wikipedia: The loud, distinctive call of the laughing kookaburra is widely used as a stock sound effect in situations that involve an Australian bush setting or tropical jungle, especially in older movies.

[Murphy Slaw]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

I'm not against hunting, but since when is a woodpecker a game bird?

I meant drones hunting them, just to SEE them, maybe take pictures...

LOL.

I should have written it better.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by Murphy Slaw

I meant drones hunting them, just to SEE them, maybe take pictures...
LOL.
I should have written it better.

Hi Murph, I didn't mean you! But there were a couple of posts above that said one reason for the Ivory Bills' decline in numbers was "hunting", and it seemed pretty clear that actual hunting with firearms was meant.

[Everton FC]

We have a Downey pecking the crap out of our gravel flat roof! No damage - yet. Love them, and the Flickers who wake us up many mornings tapping on the metal casing on our roof, calling their friends!

Love birding. Good post!

[Brucebubs]

Wonderful pictures everyone!

I've been super privileged to have a Kookaburra come visit me recently - I gained his trust and he eats from my hand now.

[fretfile100]

Love me some pileated woodpecker. We have a red bellied woodpecker that occasionally comes to our feeder.

[Wade Hampton]

Bruce, what do you feed him?

whm

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Wonderful pictures everyone!

I've been super privileged to have a Kookaburra come visit me recently - I gained his trust and he eats from my hand now.

[ThermiteTermite]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

Hi Murph, I didn't mean you! But there were a couple of posts above that said one reason for the Ivory Bills' decline in numbers was "hunting", and it seemed pretty clear that actual hunting with firearms was meant.

Ivorybills were for all practical purposes gone from the wild by the 1920's (except for a few in the Singer Tract in Louisiana.)

They were hunted in the 19th century both for food and, as they became rare, by specialists who shot them and sold them to museums as specimens.

Apparently, they were considered 'good eating' by some in Louisiana, Mississippi, etc. in the 19th century.

There are at least 400 specimens in US museums that were shot, the standard knowledge up until very recently is that it was almost exclusively habitat destruction that did them in, however, recently it has also been posited with good evidence that hunting was also a major factor.

The last ones universally confirmed to have been shot were shot in 1924 I believe, and the person who shot them actually had to get a special permit to shoot them. He told state authorities they were there, and state authorities gave him a permit to shoot one and basically said 'prove it' and he went and proved it.

All of this occurred before the US migratory bird laws etc. made hunting of many species of wild birds, including woodpeckers, illegal.

[ThermiteTermite]

Originally Posted by AndreF

Thanks for the tip. I've had this app for a while, but never knew about this feature!
Taking a walk in early March I came across this pileated and took a short video.

He looked pretty busy. I was hoping he would start pecking at some point, because they are very loud (that's how you can spot them usually). At least its distinctive call can be heard.
Feel bad this year that the largest North American woodpecker, the Ivory Bill, was officially put on the extinct species list. There had been alleged sightings in the Southeast by credible sources throughout 2005, but that was the end of the reports we heard about it. (Still hoping it was indeed found and put on the extinction list to prevent hordes of undesirable attention).

the Ivory Bill has actually NOT yet been officially placed on the extinct list. It was proposed to be placed on the extinct list, there has been some dispute and the final decision as to whether to delist it is scheduled to be taken by USFWS this September.

For now it is still officially listed as 'Critically Endangered.'

[Cypress Knee]

Many years ago I thought I saw an Ivory Billed Woodpecker in the Rigollette bottomlands adjacent to the Red River in Central Louisiana. I passed it off as more than likely a Pileated, but who could be sure for sure? I still carry that memory, irregardless of the actual breed of bird.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by ThermiteTermite

the Ivory Bill has actually NOT yet been officially placed on the extinct list. It was proposed to be placed on the extinct list, there has been some dispute and the final decision as to whether to delist it is scheduled to be taken by USFWS this September.

For now it is still officially listed as 'Critically Endangered.'

Many thanks for this encouraging info, relatively speaking. Maybe they are taking into account the latest sightings that have been documented by reputable sources.
Years ago my close cousin, an avid birder, enlightened me on the plight and history of the Ivory Bill. He claims that, ironically, if the bird is still alive today, it will be due in part to the close cooperation of wildlife environmentalists and hunters, who have a mutual interest in maintaining and protecting the natural habitats that they thrive in from encroachment and destruction.
For some reason, the fate of this bird has always interested me. Such a striking species. I even have it on a wall at home as a reminder:

[bholder]

I saw one in the woods coming up my hill, a flash of red then he landed off in the trees. Majestic.

[Moonlightmile]

Originally Posted by srick

A really cool app for your phone is ‘Merlin - Bird ID’ developed by Cornell’s Ornithology Dept. You can set your phone out and let the microphone do all the work of recognizing bird songs… even those you can’t hear (for us who listened to too much loud music in the 60s).

And I mention this because of multiple woodpecker species we have in our yard: flickers, downeys , red headeds and pileated have all been detected by the app.

I had never heard of that app. Thanks for posting about it. I’m not a knowledgeable bird person but love them nonetheless. Needless to say I’m addicted! It’s amazing how many birds it picks up. Today it picked up an Oriole next door and I could hear it but not see it. I started playing the calls on the app and it flew out of the tree and came close on a branch. Totally awesome app.

Thanks again🙏🙏