Male Pileated Woodpecker working on a tree stump in the backyard. The stump is the remain of a large oak that died in our yard about 3 years ago. It is close to our house and kept dropping branches. So we decided that we had to take it down. We (my wife and I) were very aware of its importance to the local wildlife and the compromise that we reached was to leave a 20ft high stump which would at least be useful tot he woodpeckers. If ours were a large lot and the tree were at a greater distance from the house we would have left it whole as that tall oak was a favorite hunting perch for the Mississippi and Swallow-tailed Kites that grace our neighborhood in Spring and Summer.
