A Fresh Face

Word seems to have gotten out to the extended woodpecker clan that the food is good at our house, as today we welcomed yet another species -- a female Pileated Woodpecker!

Our Downy Woodpeckers and Hairy Woodpeckers are dwarfed by this giant -- Pileated Woodpeckers measure 15.7-19.3 inches (40-49 cm) and weigh 8.8-12.3 ounces (250-350 g). They search dead trees and fallen logs for carpenter ants, their main food source, but are not adverse to some tasty suet in a backyard feeder, as we've noticed! That's an easy meal, compared to pounding your beak into a tree.

Enjoy a few more photos of this particular lovely bird! And Phil blipped her too...

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