Talk about teamwork! The male Pileated Woodpecker begins excavating then nest cavity and does most of the work, but the female contributes, particularly as the hole nears completion. The entrance hole is oblong rather than the circular shape of most woodpecker holes. For the finishing touches, the bird climbs all the way into the hole and chips away at it from the inside. Periodically the adult picks up several chips at a time in its bill and tosses them from the cavity entrance. Pileated Woodpeckers don’t line their nests with any material except for leftover wood chips. Cavity depth can range from 10-24 inches.
They make impressive rectangular excavations that can be a foot or more long and go deep inside the wood. These holes pursue the tunnels of carpenter ants, the woodpecker’s primary food. The birds also use their long, barbed tongue to extract woodboring beetle larvae (which can be more than an inch long) or termites lying deep in the wood. When hammering into this soft wood, Pileated Woodpeckers use their long neck to pull far back from the tree, then make powerful strikes with their heavy bill, pulling with their feet to increase the strength of the blow. The sound is often audible as a heavy thunk, and large chips of wood collect on the ground below. Pileated Woodpeckers are monogamous and hold large territories; it’s rare to see more than two birds together at a time. When one member of a pair dies, the other often gains a new mate, and this is one of the main ways that new individuals get a chance to breed and hold a territory.
Have you ever wondered how woodpeckers avoid brain damage, striking at wood up to 12,000 times a day? Be sure to watch the related video to find out!
All videos and photos credit Wondering About Nature except photo of bat credit: Srburke, CC BY-SA 4.0 [ Ссылка ], via Wikimedia Commons.
Equipment used:
NIKON - COOLPIX P950
Benro MeFOTO RoadTrip PRO Series 1 5-Section 6-In-1 Carbon Fiber Tripod

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