Thursday Birdblogging

This is from http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/pileatedwoodpecker.htm where you can also get a recording of its call.

Last year I went on a birding tour at Hagerman Wildlife Refuge and saw a nesting pileated woodpecker, that made a majestic flight while we watched. Very exciting. If you're really looking to see a particular bird, I recommend contacting local birding groups to find out if some one knows of a place that it's being seen regularly.

Yesterday, coming down the driveway I am almost sure I saw one near my house, where there are several very old trees. From the size of this bird, I don't know what else it could have been.

Of course, it could be the Ivory billed woodpecker of all birders' fantasies. Could be.

The pileated woodpecker I find out is an omnivore: 'A large part of its diet is made up of carpenter ants and beetle larvae. It uses its sharp bill to pull bark off a tree to expose ant colonies. It uses its long, sticky tongue to poke into holes and drag out the ants.'