Describe your first time seeing a Pileated Woodpecker (1 Viewer)

[JoeGBirder]

Not all of us have seen the massive Pileated Woodpecker before... but those of us who have were most likely shocked the first time we did! So, I'd like everyone to share your first encounter with one of these giants.

I was nine years old, almost ten. I had just moved into... not the rich neighborhood, but the one next to yours thats a tiny bit bigger. And, there were a lot more giant trees, much less litter. Basically more wildlife. So, as a want-to-be-explorer since I was four years old, I loved it! And one day, I was looking out my front window, and a one-and-a-half foot bird flew into my vision! I thought it was a raven at first, until I saw that unmistakable red crest and streak across the face. I was looking at the worlds largest, confirmed alive woodpecker species. I jumped up and screamed... in my head. I knew not to yell, as it would scare it away (nowadays, I just whisper angrily) and creeped over to my mom's iPhone, grabbed it, took a picture and just went back to watching. I waited for it to leave and then told my family about it. One of the best, most memorable days of my life.
< Photo taken by Carole Devillers

 

[JoeGBirder]

Not all of us have seen the massive Pileated Woodpecker before... but those of us who have were most likely shocked the first time we did! So, I'd like everyone to share your first encounter with one of these giants.

I was nine years old, almost ten. I had just moved into... not the rich neighborhood, but the one next to yours thats a tiny bit bigger. And, there were a lot more giant trees, much less litter. Basically more wildlife. So, as a want-to-be-explorer since I was four years old, I loved it! And one day, I was looking out my front window, and a one-and-a-half foot bird flew into my vision! I thought it was a raven at first, until I saw that unmistakable red crest and streak across the face. I was looking at the worlds largest, confirmed alive woodpecker species. I jumped up and screamed... in my head. I knew not to yell, as it would scare it away (nowadays, I just whisper angrily) and creeped over to my mom's iPhone, grabbed it, took a picture and just went back to watching. I waited for it to leave and then told my family about it. One of the best, most memorable days of my life.
View attachment 1389541 < Photo taken by Carole Devillers

I'm only just realizing that not everyone here lives in America. Sorry.

 

[has530]

I realize I am late to the party but this area of the forum is not very active and I figure better late than never!

I had not been really birdwatching for very long, a couple months at most and I was in a slightly different habitat than my home where I was most familiar with the local birds. I was hiking in the redwoods in the Oakland hills in California when an odd bird flew overhead less than 10 feet from me and away beyond a hill. I naturally followed and ended up in a eucalyptus Grove and spotted it clinging to the side of a tree. As I was hiking and not planning on birdwatching I only had a pair of entry level compact binoculars with me but I got a pretty good look and was amazed. The way it clung to the tree and red head screamed woodpecker but it was unlike any I had seen before. It looked like a cross between a woodpecker and pterodactyl. My hunch was confirmed when it started hopping from tree to tree doing what woodpeckers do... pecking wood! After a few min it took off and I never heard or saw it again.

When I got home I looked up in a field guide and sure enough found exactly what it was and excitedly logged it in ebird. It was my first "rare" sighting and a really special birding memory.

 

[choochoo47]

I just got into birding in the last month and saw my first pileated last week. Went to my local nature preserve and heard it drumming. Followed the sound into the woods and eventually saw it 50’ up in a bare tree. See attached pic. I think it’s an adult male as the red cap extends all the way to its bill but it doesn’t have a red chin strap so I’m stumped.



Saw my 2nd just this Thursday at the same preserve but about a mile or so away. This time I heard the peck-peck of drilling into a tree. Followed the sound and again saw it about 50’ up.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

I think it’s an adult male as the red cap extends all the way to its bill but it doesn’t have a red chin strap so I’m stumped.

It's a male but not because of the cap or lack of strap. Males have the red moustache at the base of the bill, like this bird. On females, that streak is black.

 

[KC Foggin]

I was purely in awe at my first sighting in my backyard and since then it has been consistently a weekly or more visit

 

[VonMaunder]

Feb 6, 1991, one of my early, dedicated birding outings in one of my favorite haunts at the time, since overtaken by earbud wearing, oblivious exercisers! First sighting of Pileated, awesome to see! and also on that day, which was probably a rainy one, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Bluebird and Myrtle Warbler, back then it was Yellow-Rumped IIRC. Saw my first Barred Owl there too sometime earlier. Have Pileateds nesting in the woods here at home now, frequent visitors that still remain a treat to see.