I went out in my back yard to place some taps and noticed a big hole that has recently been chewed in a ash tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/34694/IMG_0664.JPG)
If you look about 23 feet up on the Left hand y of this tree there is hole that has recently appeared.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/34694/IMG_0661.JPG)
It is about 8 inches tall and 2 1/2 inches wide with a small hole below.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/34694/IMG_0663.JPG)
This picture is as far as I can zoom in which shows it is pretty cleanly chewed quite deep and I did not see any sawdust in the snow below. I have never seen a hole this big before and was wondering if anyone may have a idea of what chewed it.
Wood peckers are after whats inside. Looks like the valleys from carpenter ants in the heartwood.
Yep its Wood peckers
Grits has got to be better than those small fish {MINNOWS} with boiled potatoes
and beets. :D :D :D :D
Sorry guys wrong place
Most likely Piliated (sp.?) Woodpecker. They are known for large, rectangular holes.
A pileated wood pecker maybe.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10436/thecfarm1tree.jpg)
And than the mess on the ground.
That is a good wild life tree if no threat to a building.
I saw another tree that the wood pecker has been after too just below my land.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10436/thecfarm3%7E1.jpg)
We did not hear anything so I didn't think it was a woodpecker and there is no wood in the snow under the hole. I will have to keep a eye out to see if it comes back. I hope it got all the carpenter ants or that tree may look like yours thecfarm in the future. Looks like the hole would make a good home for a squirrel.
Maybe the wind was blowing when the wood pecker was a pecking.
I was coming home and caught him in the act. I had to come home and get the camera. He moved on the back side of the tree. First time I ever really saw one stay on a tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10436/plilated_woodpecker2014.JPG)
Quote from: thecfarm on March 08, 2014, 08:09:40 PM
I was coming home and caught him in the act. I had to come home and get the camera. He moved on the back side of the tree. First time I ever really saw one stay on a tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10436/plilated_woodpecker2014.JPG)
Great picture. I will have to keep my eye out for one.
My buddy had a tree right in his front yard that looked identical, just a much larger hole. The woodpecker looked like Woody on some serious steroids! :D :D
You're right about pileated woodpecker. In our forests in western NC they make holes just like that, in old dead trees, and I think sometimes in live trees, if the trees are in some way weakened or sick.
David L.
Yes to a Pileated Woodpecker.
As a note, the woodpeckers are after what is already living within the tree. They are exposing the damage that is already within the tree. Sort of opening the cupboard door there for you to see as they chow on what they find. They are not eating the wood, just removing it to get at where it is already missing.
Sounds like he must be in a big pine tree across the street now. While out boiling sap yesterday that is all I heard. Hopefully I will be able to get a pic of him. The squirrels seem to like the hole he made in my tree. They are checking it out all the time.
Them poor little woodpeckers. I often hear them hammering away at the trees like a jackhammer. Can you imagine the headaches they get?
the piliated isn't little.
Piliated woodpeckers are a rare sighting around here but I always try to leave a big dead snag around to try to attract them. We'll see a pair about twice a year.
We have lots of pileated woodpeckers in our area and on my property. Some folks call them wood hens. I love to hear them calling (sometimes in the Spring they will shock a turkey into gobbling) and watching them. I'd leave the tree as long as safe just for the bird viewing it will provide.
Built themselves a regular condo. Club MED like.
we have a few of them around here some call them indian hens on a side note if you ever see one go in a hole where the nest is DONT EVER climb the tree and put your hand over the hole to try and catch mom and the babies :o i know a guy that did that when he was bout 12-13 yrs old and hands are no where near hard as wood and i thought the bird was gonna come out through my and any second :o and i was to scared to let the pecker out afraid it would get on my head so i ended up just jumping out of the tree ;D after 2 -3 days my hand was ok and learned a valuable lesson :D :D :D when i think about all the crazy things i did as a kid i often wonder how i ever got this old ??? :D :D
i forgot to mention this was one of the small red headed woodpeckers not the larger ones like were mentioned in this post :)
Quote from: WV Sawmiller on December 20, 2015, 10:12:46 AM
We have lots of pileated woodpeckers in our area and on my property. Some folks call them wood hens. I love to hear them calling (sometimes in the Spring they will shock a turkey into gobbling) and watching them. I'd leave the tree as long as safe just for the bird viewing it will provide.
That's what people call them around here, too. It confused me when I first moved here in '78 when the locals talked about "wood hens".
It's easy to tell when one of them is working. Sounds like the log drums from an old Tarzan movie. The little redheaded woodpeckers (don't know their real name) sound more like a clatter; nothing like the big pileated drummers.
It is impressive that several people could figure out the species by the nature of the hole he left. People that live and work in the bush get tuned in to what is out there. It all becomes so familiar. That is the difference between tourists and foresters.