Ever seen a Woodpecker do this?
- Thread starter kevinlar
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Sagetown
Farmer and a STIHL
Left a pine tree stump in the yard, and a woodpecker bored a hole in it, and made a nest for the next year or two. But it didn't make a mess like that.
Maybe he is going after
emerald ash borer
emerald ash borer
Most likely going after grubs in the core. We had some big black ash in the yard and the pileated woodpeckers showed up and turned two of them into Swiss cheese. Once we cut them down we saw they were hollow and full of ants and grubs.
Woodpeckers do a public service as they will often identify trees that are totally core rotted that we assumed were healthy.
Woodpeckers do a public service as they will often identify trees that are totally core rotted that we assumed were healthy.
R2D
North pole greens keeper
I've done three ash trees in the last 4 months that looked like that. One had an abandoned nest built in it. The dead wood is a haven for insects.
Agent Orange
Hacktastic®
That's pretty cool! Learned something new today. Thanks.
We have Red Bellied, Red Head, Sapsuckers, and a few otber Woodpeckers. Apparently KS is supposed to have the large Pileated, but I have yet to see one. I've got one that keeps coming back and has an obsession with enlarging the opening on a small bird house but never moves in.
R2D
North pole greens keeper
This one suburban neighborhood I work in has several types of wood peckers. A lot of these homes have cedar siding and cedar shake roofs. They love the Cedar. Combine that with rotting ash everywhere and....boom, population explosion!
JeffGu
Antagonist/Heckler
They do that to the ash trees here in Nebraska, as well. I took one out at the end of last summer that looked like that from about 15' off of the ground and all the way up the codominant stems until the wood was under 4" diameter. They're crazy busy trying to attract a mate, and if the first hole doesn't meet their standards, they start another one. There was only a few limbs that looked dead, the rest of the tree appeared solid. But, like SVK said... they can tell otherwise. Right where the solid wood of the trunk ended and the rotted hollow parts began is where they were drilling their holes. The two or three solid limbs on the tree up higher were untouched, but all of the rotted ones were drilled like Swiss cheese.
Amazing little birds, really.
Amazing little birds, really.
I have a white pine that snapped 20' up in a storm a few years ago, Pileated 'peckers love that tree! They have a nest in a Sycamore across the creek from me and you know when they are pecking, sounds like they are swinging a hatchet...
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Pileated woodpecker work for sure. We have a few around here and they love the Ash. EAB is definitely a boon to the woodpecker populations.
The number one food source for the Pileated is black carpenter ants. I have a little Chestnut Oak that they riddled. I love them, reminds me of deer hunting in Western Maryland as a kid. They sound like a jack hammer pecking, and make a cool noise when flying. I've only seen the one pair that riddled my Oak here in Frederick MD, but we have quite a few of them on the farm in WV, Joe.
Shagbark
ArboristSite Guru
Ain't nuthin. They do that to the cedar trim on my house.
alleyyooper
Addicted to ArboristSite
Rectangle holes is one way to id which wood pecker made the holes. Pileated do this in my woods. Have at least 6 pair in this area.
Al
Al
john taliaferro
Addicted to ArboristSite
Maybe he all ready has a mate is why he is pounding his head on a tree .
That's the sign that you have one of the rarest woodpeckers in north america in your area. They are likely hearing carpenter ants and will excavate holes like that to get to huge ant nests in the soft core of compromised trees that have been attacked by the insects. The birds are telling us that this tree has been attacked by an animal(usually an insect).
Carpenter ants are like chocolate to Piliated woodpeckers. Treasure those birds as they are one of the most beautiful ones we have left in North America. Feel lucky and try to get us some pics of them.
benp
Addicted to ArboristSite
There are "woodpecker hotels" all in my woods. It's really neat to see the 6-12" of chips at the base of the tree.
I figure it keeps the little rascals off of the cedar siding.
Then you always have "the special" woodpecker that loves the down spouts. Sounds like he's firing an MG42 or it has watched too many A10 "fart of God" gun run videos. BRRRRRRRRRRRP. Lol
I figure it keeps the little rascals off of the cedar siding.
Then you always have "the special" woodpecker that loves the down spouts. Sounds like he's firing an MG42 or it has watched too many A10 "fart of God" gun run videos. BRRRRRRRRRRRP. Lol
Yes they do. Except when they fly out of their hole night next to you when you are sneaking through the woods deer hunting and you nearly have to clean your pants lol.
When my dad saw the Pileated at my house, he was shocked to see them. Thought they were nearly extinct.
Sawyer Rob
Addicted to ArboristSite
LOT's of them around here, I've had them come right up to the house and eat my suet blocks, they can eat one up pretty fast!
SR
