The Big Pecker

For a couple of weeks there has been a persistent hammering coming from the woodlot to the east.

I'm not kidding.

This hammering goes on for hours on end.  All day long.  For days on end.

Actually this is the beginning of the eleventh year since we’ve actually taken notice of this noisy neighbor.

I already had a pretty good idea of who might be the maestro of the anvil chorus emanating from the woods - but I hadn't had an opportunity to confirm the identity.

So yesterday morning while the girls and I were out for a walk I thought it might be a good idea to see if we could determine the source of all of the racket.

Check this out.

A big old mostly-dead maple - almost completely hollowed-out.

At the base of the tree was a sizable trash heap of wood chips

And while I didn't catch him on the job - this is the bird that is responsible.

photo - Ohio DNR

A pileated woodpecker - Wisconsin's largest woodpecker.

The name derives from the Latin pileatus - "wearing a cap".

This bird is about the size of a crow and announces its territory by drumming on hollow trees, chimneys and utility poles.

Its favorite food is carpenter ants and it will carve oval holes up to several feet long in tree trunks. It feeds its young regurgitated insects.

Yum!