Last week I noticed some wood chips on my sidewalk, like chain saw chips. Hm. Yesterday I noticed a big hole in my neighbor's tree, like it may fall over hole. I got as close as I could before the Giant Woodpecker scurried up the tree. I see his smaller cousins around, but never the big guy.
In reply to 914Driver :
That's a Pileated woodpecker. It's the biggest pecker I've ever seen in real life.
Pileated woodpeckers are NO JOKE! I saw one drop a pretty large treebranch and subsequently ruin a neighbor's jeep in a matter of about 6 hours about a decade back.
We sometimes get one that puts holes in our cedar siding. A bunch of homes across a straight line like you can put a level on it to see it be perfect. My wife is the woodpecker cop.
if it's okay with you I'd like to show my wife the big pecker when I get home tonight.
I've seen bigger, but that's still pretty impressive. You'd definitely notice if it was banging on your back door.
Datsun310Guy said:.....
if it's okay with you I'd like to show my wife the big pecker when I get home tonight.
I think you're wife's got more to say about it than we do. Good Luck. 
See them all the time around here. You know Woody? Woody the Woodpecker? He was a Pilated woodpecker. Notice the sound they make and think of the laugh from the cartoon.
We have at least one in our area. I haven't seen him, but I've sure heard that weird call. We also have a bunch of the downy woodpeckers and a couple red-bellied. Fascinating creatures.
Gosh, I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard those words. I'd have at least, uh, 15 cents?
Funny you post this today; just last night I was getting home from a walk around the lake and heard what sounded like someone using a hammer in our woods. I checked to make sure it wasn't coming from across the street (nope!) then ventured into the woods to figure out who was practicing carpentry in our forest. It was a pileated woodpecker - an enormous one, at least a foot and a half tall - going ham on the base of a dead tree. I fully expect to find that tree laying down later today. It seriously sounded like a hammer hitting wood, THWACK THWACK THWACK - pause - THWACK THWACK THWACK. We have a ton of woodpeckers around, but I've never heard that noise until last night. I've seen pileated woodpeckers in our yard, but this guy was a beast.
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