Hi, We have enjoyed the first Pileated family to come into our yard on a regular basis, over the past month. It seems the female rarely comes to the feeders, and the male does most of the feeding. There are two babies, one bigger than the other, which the female kept chasing off from the area I hang my feeders. But the male feeds them both, and works really hard at it, (getting into those starling proof feeders can be a chore). I do enjoy getting woke up at 6am (used to be closer to 5)
by the male hammering on an old birdhouse near our window in the morning. He then goes and hammers on the old wooden feeder in the back. The babies keep hammering and picking at it, so it is probably getting rather holey!
Does anyone know of any articles or studies on Pileated behavior that I might be able to find? I do hear the female calling to the male so I know she is still connected, but I don't know why she chased off the smaller one, and doesn't help in the feeding of either one of them. At first I thought maybe she was sitting on another clutch of eggs, but as much work as these two are, I doubt it.

Thankyou, Vicki Biltz
vickibiltz at msn.com<mailto:vickibiltz at msn.com> Bonney Lake Wa