lineated woodpecker in action.....

[Gato Moteado]

...in the 2nd photo, he is clearing debris from the hole he is making for a nest in a cecropia tree right outside my door.

[marybourg]

1. Wow! Terrific photos.

[Gato Moteado]

11. thank you!

[Solly Mack]

2. Great shots!

[Gato Moteado]

12. thank you!

[Nictuku]

3. We have those here in Napa

.... but there are only a few I have seen. Gorgeous birds.

I have more a problem with Acorn WoodPeckers, who are daily trying to put acorns into the walls of my house.

Grrrrr

[Gato Moteado]

14. i love acorn woodpeckers!

we have them here in the higher altitudes.

[CrispyQ]

29. I love them too!

We have Northern Flickers & some neighbors have metal chimneys & when a woodpecker gets going on those it sounds like a machine gun!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Dear Gato!

Fantastic photos! I love the action in the second one.

Your images are so sharp and clear.

Can't wait to see them in person!

[Gato Moteado]

15. thanks peg!

yes, you will see some birds here

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Terrific photos, but isn't it "Pileated?"

I've been fortunate to see two in my life, one that my grandmother called me to see when I was a little kid and a second one recently. Both were here in Northeastern New York.

[RainCaster]

9. I wondered that as well

I have the Pileated all over my woods. They do look similar. But I found this:

An easier-to-see difference between the two species is the white bar above the Lineated's shoulder, which Pileateds don't have. When the Lineated is in museum-presentation position, the white face-streak continues down the neck, then zags back up over the wing forming a conspicuous white V across the black back.

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Thank you! Now I'm wondering exactly what I saw, but I can't exactly go back.

All I remember was that they both were the largest woodpeckers that I've ever seen and they're quite rare around here. Next time, if there ever is one, I'll have to look much closer.

[pazzyanne]

22. Found the following information on Wikipedia -

The lineated woodpecker is related to the pileated woodpecker.

The lineated woodpecker's range is in Mexico and northern South America, and the pileated woodpecker is found in the United States and Canada.

[Gato Moteado]

16. these are quite a bit smaller than pileated.....

....i used to see pileated in south FL and they were friggin' huge.

[doc03]

28. The ones I have seen are bigger than a crow nt

[RainCaster]

32. Since you've seen both...

How do the voices compare?
All I've seen are the Pileated, and they have what I would call a very unique voice.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. Gorgeous photos

The second one, wow! What great shots!
,

[Gato Moteado]

17. thank you.

[AllaN01Bear]

7. tack tack tack tack tack. i still dont get how they dont get a headache.

kadack akkk. adack akkk. i love their call.

[3Hotdogs]

20. I recall reading, there is a part of their scull that is like a sponge. It absorbs the shock.

[AllaN01Bear]

25. thank you for your information.

[CrispyQ]

30. They have a super long tongue that retreats around their skull when hammering.

It wraps around their brain. The image from this page floated around the FB bird groups a year or so ago.

https://abcbirds.org/blog21/woodpecker-tongues/

[2naSalit]

8. Excellent captures!

[Gato Moteado]

18. thank you.

[niyad]

13. Gorgeous photos.

[Gato Moteado]

19. thank you.

[3Hotdogs]

21. --- two O.S.H.A. violations.

No safety glasses.

No hearing protection.

[Callalily]

23. Woodpeckers are so interesting and fun to watch.

We have red-headed woodpeckers coming to our bird feeder and on rare occasions pileated woodpeckers.

[Gato Moteado]

24. i can't even begin to tell you about all the drama surrounding the nest they are making....

so far yesterday a pair of parrots tried to steal the cavity nest....the pair of woodpeckers got defensive and one started beating its beak on the tree loudly and charging up the tree at the parrots....while the woodies had their hands full with the parrots, a pair of masked tityras moved in and tried to steal the nest. the parrots and tityras are back this morning and lurking.....the one woody is not leaving the hole unattended now.

[CrispyQ]

27. Your own personal soap opera! I'm staying tuned for the next episode! -nt

[AllaN01Bear]

31. mine, and you cant have it.

[Callalily]

34. That's a lot of drama, but I'm sure interesting to watch.

[CrispyQ]

26. Quite the little woodworker!

Great shots!!

[MLAA]

33. These shots are fantastic. Crisp, colorful, full of intensity and texture.

[justaprogressive]

35. Great close-ups!

Southern relation to the Pileated woodpecker...



One stopped by the river house, left before I could get a shot...