Woodpecker ID Help! (1 Viewer)

gthang

Ford Focus Fanatic: mmmmmm... 3.1415926535.....

• May 1, 2004

• #1

I saw a woodpecker today. No biggie and it appeared to give food to "babies" aka, it was tapping once every few seconds.

Description: Head appeared to be very red, probably a crest patch or whole head; I'm not sure which. Appeared to be absolutely no white on back; just black. Size, between Red-Bellied Woodpecker and Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. I circled around the tree it was on, and from every angle, no sign of white on it's black back. fairly heavy amount of red on its head.

Could it be a pileated? size was a little small for a pileated, but just in case, I made my size range from red-bellied to Ivory-Billed. I did not get a good look at its beak. I had no camera with me, so please bear with me on this.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

 

Rasmus Boegh

BF member

• May 1, 2004

• #2

Sure does sound like a Pileated. The size-range you give doesn't help to much. Most American woodpeckers fall within. The back that looked all black fits Pileated, and so does the red one the head. Due to all the red on the head, it was probably a male.
Of course there's the Red-headed, but it has a big patch of white on the back and is a similar size to Red-bellied...

Congratulations. If indeed a Pileated that's a great species.

 

Last edited: May 1, 2004

B

bruce olson

New member

• May 1, 2004

• #3

Sounds like a pileated woodpecker to me. Check your bird book and compare the male and female. The call sounds like woody woodpecker and it is the size of a crow. Usually found in areas of mature trees and forests! Good luck.

 

Rasmus Boegh

BF member

• May 1, 2004

• #4

I found a great photo with a Pileated male sitting next to a Red-bellied:

http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/6798/password//sort/1/cat/all/page/1

 

Tero

Retired

• May 1, 2004

• #5

"Size, between Red-Bellied Woodpecker and Ivory-Billed Woodpecker"
LOL

OK, there are not that many woodpeckers. Look at your field guide and decide if it was Red Headed or Pileated.

 

gthang

Ford Focus Fanatic: mmmmmm... 3.1415926535.....

• May 1, 2004

• #6

The second time a woodpecker landed on the same tree, it was the same size as the ID requested bird. But it flew to another tree nearby, and I could tell right then and there that it was a Red-Bellied.

But the back was way too black. Still not sure...

 

Rasmus Boegh

BF member

• May 1, 2004

• #7

Not many things can be promised in this world... but I'll promise you this much: No matter how black the back was it still was NOT a Pileated if it was roughly the same size as a Red-bellied (just look at the pic. I linked to in the last thread)!

 

Katy Penland

Well-known member

• May 1, 2004

• #8

Also, Pileated has a huge, distinctive crest that is never flattened, and it's the only woodpecker in NA (the world?) that has this feature. Since Gthang only mentioned a "crest patch" instead of an obvious "crest," it could not have been a Pileated.

Meant to say to Bruce, Welcome to BirdForum! Just realized this was your first post to this thread.

 

Rasmus Boegh

BF member

• May 1, 2004

• #9

Yes, in North America it is indeed the only woodpecker with such a crest that is never flattened. However, this feature is rather common in several South American and Asian species. The most amazing of which may be the Magellanic Woodpecker. Especially note the female, where the crest almost points back at the bill (the crest depends somewhat on the individual, and in some it is just straight up, but can be pointed forward. In others it's always pointed forward)!

http://www.avesdechile.cl/115en.htm

 

Katy Penland

Well-known member

• May 1, 2004

• #10

Holy cow, an 18" woodpecker! I'd love to see one of those. And the 6" SA hummingbirds since the ones we have here in the US are so tiny. Thanks for that link, Rasmus, very interesting bird.