Many of you heard last year when we successfully fledged two pileated
woodpeckers (m&f) from a snag in a ravine behind our house - this year =
we lucked=20
out again, and had two females fledged. The view of the hole is perfect =
with a scope=20
from our bedroom balcony, and the first thing we check when we get up is =
whether=20
the young ones are still in the nest screeching away!

The exciting part of this is being able to observe these birds so =
closely for so long=20
(their nesting season seems to be about three months from start to =
finish). There is=20
a smaller snag nearer our house where the parents perch before they =
swoop down to
the nest hole, and we have very good looks at them preening, drumming, =
and flying=20
around. I have noticed some interesting behavior, and thought I'd write =
some of it=20
down.

Two baby pileateds seems to be just about what the nest hole will fit - =
the parents
have to leave it as soon as they get fairly large because they can no =
longer fit=20
inside. The two birds "fight" a little over who gets to stick their =
head out and look
around - we have noticed the females seem more agressive in this regard =
than the males. The two parents call to each other and both take turns =
feeding the kids.
The babies cry for food with a raspy screech that gets louder as they =
get bigger -
they have pink fuzz on their heads where the red crest will eventually =
be - it looks
pretty funny, actually. Otherwise they look the same as the adults.

One day I noticed that the hole is perfectly suited to avoid the rain. =
The snag leans=20
a little in one direction and both years the male drilled holes on the =
underneath side.
Even in a torrential downpour, the hole doesn't get wet. I looked out =
the window
just as it was starting to rain the other day, and saw one of the kids =
looking around
interestedly at the rain - it kept sticking its tongue out (to catch =
drops?) That got me
wondering - where do baby birds get their water while in a nest hole? =
Does the food
the parents regurgitate have all the water they need? It's a puzzle. =
These are=20
pretty big birds, even as nestlings.

Another interesting behavior - as the kids start to get bigger, they =
stick their bodies
more and more out the hole, eventually perching on it. The parents fly =
to the nearby
alder snag, which is now hollow, in full sight of the kids and drum =
quietly. They=20
start to avoid coming directly to the hole. It's as if they're saying =
"come and get it!"
When they do come to the hole, they move their heads just as the kids =
try to get the
food, and move off a little ways, then fly back to the other snag.

Eventually, the young birds do fly up to the snag where the parents are =
sitting and
get fed there. It just amazes me that a bird that size, who doesn't =
even have room
to fully stretch its wings in the hole, can make it over to the other =
snag on the first
try (if they miss, its a long ways down)! I guess its only HUMANS that =
have to
learn EVERYTHING from scratch. Still... Any other pileated watchers =
out there?

Teresa Michelsen
tcmnem at halcyon.com
Inglemoor (hillside S. of Sammamish Slough in the soon-to-be newly=20
incorporated City of Kenmore)