Hi All. Yesterday I was surprised an unusual combination of regular
visitors using the feeding station sort of eyeball to eyeball facing each
other - a male Pileated Woodpecker and a rather robust Am. Crow. Both
appeared to be comfortable feeding -- the Pileated pecking away at chunk
of suet with the crow picking up the puppy chow that I set out . The two
were about 2' apart busily eating. The Pileated must perch horizontally
on the suet hence they were at eye level.

In the Fall of '02 ,the Pileated become a regular visitor when he found the
suet I have been staking down. He has about destroyed a snag I created
when I topped an 9" Douglas-fir that finally started rubbing the deck. I
could stand in the bedroom and look out thru sliding glass doors at him
from 4' away knocking chunks of rotted wood off the snag. Interesting bill
action as he drives his bill into the wood and then twists his head to
break the wood free from the bole. He also has hopped down the top rail
to display at his image in a floor to ceiling window. I have been thinking
about putting up a nest box on the snag. I read some time ago that the
USFS in AZ was experimenting with nest boxes packed full with wood chips so
that a pair's instinct to construct a nesting cavity was satisfied. Any
comments re the nesting box idea? Bill

William H. Lawrence ,PhD
Centralia WA
mailto:whl at localaccess.com