Pileated Woodpecker, A big dashing bird with a flaming crest, the largest woodpecker in North America. I finally got a photo of this beautiful bird today. I have been trying to get one for years. For such a large bird, they move pretty fast through the trees.

Excavating deep into rotten wood to get at the nests of carpenter ants, the Pileated leaves characteristic rectangular holes in dead trees. This species became rare in eastern North America with clearing of forests in centuries past, but has gradually increased in numbers again since about the beginning of the 20th century.

by Sandra J