Pileated Woopecker

[Cobra]

Not sure if anyone is keeping track of these anymore but I watched one for about 20 minutes, then a 4 point entered the bean field, no shot. Sighted near Battle Creek, ~1 mile SSE of Cotton Lake.

[Hamilton Reef]

Cobra, The Pileated Woopecker population is increasing and they are a great bird to watch. I've got 2 maybe 3 nesting pairs in my wildlife area. They sure can rip apart the dead wood and the sound echos through the house when working close by in the yard. During the summer I see them 2-3 times a week and I still need to get a good photo for my property collection.

[sargent]

i saw one out back about 4 days ago working on a standing dead aspen.

They are really neat to see and watch.

It's also great to hear about all the sightings throughout the state. Hope they make a comeback.

[Askel]

Had one run into the sliding glass window at a friends cabin and knocked it out. Didn't break the glass and how I don't know. He picked it up and streched it's neck alittle and set it in a cage they had. When it came to he let it out and it flew up into a big pine , where it stayed for the next 4 hrs. Guess it was just getting it senses back but, ended up flying away.

[o town]

We have a bunch of them living in our river corridor down here to the point that we can go outside anytime and either hear them whacking away on a tree or calling.
When we first moved here I was going to clear out a lot of standing dead wood down by the river until I saw an article from the Audubon Society that said one of the problems with woodpecker populations was that people are too quick to cut down dead wood which is vital to many species for survival, especially woodpeckers and wood ducks.
That got me out of a lot of hard work by leaving the stuff standing but we have to stay out of there when it's windy.
We also have flickers, red-heads, downy's, red-cockaded and I saw a red-bellied the other day, so they're back.
Interesting topic of conversation down here is that supposedly a colony of ivory-billed has been discovered in Western Cuba. My friend Doc in S. FL swears up and down he saw one in the Everglades a few years ago. He does know his birds pretty well but he's also another fisherman and chronic liar.
Anyone have any input on ivory-bill's?

o town

[The Nailer]

I heard one on my property (south of Hawks) for the first time the day after the opener. The last time I heard or saw one was in the U.P. I didn't know we had south of the bridge.

[Airoh]

The first time I saw a pileated I thought it was an Ivory billed. I knew they were spposed to be extinct.
The last I heard of the Ivory billed was they thought maybe a few were spotted in Texas close to Mexico. They were going to try to create a sanctuary for them. Then I never heard any thing else. Thar was forty years ago.
I had not heard of the Cuban ones. That would be cool if it's true.

[farmlegend]

I've seen them several times over the last 3 years on my Hillsdale County farm. Kinda neat, since Michigan bird book distribution map doesn't show them in that area. They must be increasing their numbers and range. The supposedly prefer mature woodlots.

One destroyed a gorgeous veneer-grade black cherry in my big woodlot 2 years ago.

[midwestfisherman]

We've been fortunate enough to have a pair visit our back yard regularily. Along with several Downy Woodpeckers. We have been putting out feeders specifically for woodpeckers for about 2 years now. We have 10 acres of hardwoods behind the house which helps to keep them in the area.

[o town]

Seems I could find no hopeful info on the net about the ivory-billed.
The last confirmed, positive ID in Cuba was before Castro took over. There was an attempt to set up a sanctuary but it fell victim to the cold war. Sightings in the 90's were reported but not confirmed and there is a possibility they're still there.
A forestry student reported seeing a pair in LA in 1999 and he is either a pathological liar or it's for real, according to the ornothologists who questioned him. Sounds promising, but subsequent expeditions to the area found no signs.
Interesting bird that needs old-growth forests and when it trashes out a tree, it puts the pileated to shame.
The one defining thing the guy in LA described was the female which has a black crest that tilts forward, The male IB has a red crest as do both the male and female pileated, so if anyone sees a big woodie with a black crest and ivory bill, yahoo!
Interesting thing about the LA thing was that the state immediately suspended all logging in the area and began an outdoors awareness thing that got a lot of attention and will help other endangered birds get a break. Cool.

o town