Last Friday morning I woke up with a splitting headache and bloody sinuses. Every muscle in my body ached and I was utterly exhausted even after a full night of sleep. I walked out to check on the wood stove, then sat down and contemplated my next move. The threat of inclement weather and my general physical state combined to convince me that going to work was not an option. So I filled out the paperwork for a sick day and then went back to bed.

Later that morning I was sitting at my office desk and working on assignments for my students. At 8:53 a.m. I paused, looked up from my computer, and gazed out across the western portion of my yard. Across about 100 feet of lawn area there is a small stand of White Pines (Pinus strobus) and among them there are three tress that have died.

I suspect that these trees were weakened by the droughts that we’ve experienced over the past two decades and there is strong evidence to suggest that they were finally finished off by Bark Beetles. I won’t get into the natural history of the beetles today, but if you would like me to dedicate a column on them, then just send me an email and I’ll dive down into a column on entomology.

Anyway, the dead pines are far from the house and present no danger of any kind should they eventually fall over. So, rather than cut them down, I have let them stand in the hopes that they might attract the attention of certain species of birds. Foremost among the possible species were the Brown Creeper (Certhia americana), which builds nests in the spaces between dead tree trunks and the loose bark that hasn’t quite fallen off the tree, and the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopuspileatus), which is our largest woodpecker. So, it was with a great sense of wonder and satisfaction that I just happened to notice one of the big woodpeckers exploring the trunks of the dead pines.

The Pileated Woodpecker is a species that requires a rather large amount of forest in order to make a living. They also require forests full of large trees with relatively high stem densities. In plain English, these birds need 100 to 200 acres of forested land that has not been disturbed for a long time. Trees with a diameter of 14 to 20 inches are required for nesting and large numbers of other trees that have been infested with insects are required for food.

Male birds will excavate nest holes in dead trees and they seem to prefer to be near water. Once the nest cavity is complete, the male will make all sorts of noise in the hopes of attracting the attention of a female. If he is lucky, he will be able to show the female his wonderful accommodations and convince her that he is a good mate. Success in this department will result in a female ready to lay eggs, which she will typically do in the month of April.

The female will produce a clutch of three or four white eggs and will lay them directly on a layer of fresh wood chips at the bottom of the newly excavated nest cavity. Both birds will take turns incubating the eggs, which takes 18 days. Then, the chicks hatch and the real work begins.

The chicks require a constant supply of insects and insect larvae, which explains the large acreage of the territory of the woodpeckers. The bigger the chicks grow, the more food they demand and there will eventually come a time when one or two of the young birds will sit at the nest entrance and call incessantly for food. In an effort to find this food, the adult birds can create extremely long excavations that produce large piles of wood chips on the ground. After about 26 days, the chicks finally fledge and the nest is abandoned.

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However, the accommodations are extremely valuable to other species. Screech Owls, Barred Owls, Great Crested Flycatchers and many species of tree-nesting ducks (Wood Ducks and Common Mergansers are prime examples) will happily move into these old nest cavities in following years. The ducks will find them particularly attractive because the Pileated Woodpeckers like to nest near water.

Today’s photo shows an adult female Pileated Woodpecker perched on one of the dead pine trees on the side of my front yard. The way to identify males and females is to look at the bold line of feathers below the eye (aka the malar stripe, or “mustache”). In an adult male, that patch of feathers will be as bright red as the bird’s crest. In adult females, the feathers are black. The photo was taken at a great distance, but you can also see that the birds have yellow eyes. With a body length of 17 inches and a wingspan of 30 inches, the Pileated Woodpecker is most commonly compared to the size of a crow. In flight, however, the woodpecker will show extensive patches of white under the wings.

I’d say that you should get out and search for a Pileated Woodpecker, but that just wouldn’t make much sense. With such large territories they are not easily located and their shy temperament causes them to move on rather quickly if people show up. Every once in a while, however, there is an accommodating individual that will focus on feeding so intently that you will be able to watch it for a while. If this happens, then take the time to enjoy this magnificent bird. Such chances don’t come too often.

Bill Danielson has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 27 years. He has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, the Nature Conservancy and the Massachusetts State Parks and he currently teaches high school biology and physics. For more in formation visit his website at www.speakingofnature.com, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook.