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Bird Tracks and Sign
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Pileated Woodpecker
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HOLES |
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Photo by Alexis Burnett |
Pileated Woodpeckers are
famous for pecking out huge holes in trees. A sure sign of
these are the sometimes enormous pile of wood chips below
the hole. |
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A series of holes made by
Pileated Woodpeckers. |
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Although these holes aren't
very tall, they nevertheless show the characteristic
rectangular shape of Pileated Woodpecker holes. |
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Sometimes these birds simply
rip up the whole side of a trees, as shown here. |
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These holes are excavated so
the bird can get at the grubs, beetles, and other insects
and larvae inside the tree. Here one can see that the bird
has pecked its way into the heart of the tree, where there
are cavities in which these gastronomic delights reside. |
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Here's a fine example of a
hole. |
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SCAT |
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I found this Pileated
Woodpecker scat right below a large hole which it had been
excavating. |
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Another view of a different
scat. |
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When you pull apart woodpecker
scat you will find that it is composed of wood chips.
No! Just kidding! :) :)
It is actually made up of insect exoskeletons (bodies),
since that is what woodpeckers eat. |
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OTHER SIGN |
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Here is a Pileated Woodpecker kill site (ie, a
Pileated got killed here) |
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A close-up view of the feathers at the kill site |
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