The noisy ‘tree daggers’ of our woods

Written by Jack Sanders
Thursday, 28 October 2010 10:14

If there’s one local bird that generates more “wows” than a big hawk, it’s probably the Pileated Woodpecker. Robin Bates-Mason of New Canaan knows the feeling.

“This afternoon, outside my window, I saw what appeared to be a huge woodpecker on our Norway Maple,” she wrote a couple weeks ago. “It was at least the size of a crow but looked bigger, had a black body, maybe a white chest but its head was bright red with feathers on the top of its head that stuck up a bit.

“Is this a typical bird for our area? I’m in New Canaan and next to the Bristow Bird Sanctuary. I’ve seen lots of woodpeckers but the largest I’ve seen in the past has a bright orange head and is probably half the size of this bird. I am pretty sure that a hawk would not be able to scare the bird we saw.”

Pileateds are not common but they are not rare, either. They can be spotted in any season and in almost any location that has trees. I’ve seen a couple on the Main Street of Ridgefield over the years — one working a stump in a church lawn, and the other on a tree trunk only a block from the commercial center of town.

They are, indeed, the size of a crow, by far our biggest woodpecker. They are often spotted after hearing their loud, haunting calls, which have been described as “cuck, cuck, cuck” and “yucka, yucka, yucka.” However, there is no way to really represent these sounds using the English alphabet — you hear it, see the bird, and never forget either.

It may be fair to say that the remnants of Pileated Woodpeckers are more often seen than the birds themselves. Any time you come across a pile of wood chips at the base of a tree, you can pretty much bet that a Pileated has been there. Using their huge beaks, they chop off large chunks of bark and wood as they dig in search insects, especially ants or beetles. Often the tree is either dead or dying.

Unlike most woodpeckers, they may be spotted on or close to the ground looking for food in stumps and fallen trees.

The Pileated Woodpecker is more common today than it was a century ago.  Farmers had turned most of the forests into fields, leaving little habitat for these big woodpeckers that maintain large foraging territories. Today, however, many trees have returned to the landscape and with them, woodpeckers of several kinds.

So what about that name, pileated, which is about as weird a common bird name as we have. It’s from the scientific name, Dryocopus pileatus. The pileatus means “capped” or “crested,” which refers to the back and top of its head (shown nicely in the accompanying photo).

Dryocopus is an even better descriptive name: It means “tree dagger” and wonderfully describes that big beak and how the bird uses it.

The next question is: How do you pronounce this odd word? Out West, where this bird is also found, they often say, “pile-ated.” However, hereabouts — and probably more accurately reflective of its scientific-name origins — we say, “pill-e-ated.”

Speaking of the West, Pileated Woodpeckers are the bane of many utility companies in many states, such as Colorado, where they do millions of dollars in damage to telephone and power poles — particularly cross arms. “Pileated woodpeckers cause some of the most severe damage to poles, especially when excavating nesting cavities during February and March and roosting cavities during September through December,” said a report in The Journal of Wildlife Management last year.

Don’t ask what happens if one of them takes a liking to the side of your house.

Winter birds

Linda Maggs of Ridgefield reports, “The juncos are back!! Also, have just seen 1.30pm at one bird feeder a Carolina Wren and a Red-breasted Nuthatch. Oh, and on Monday, I saw a female Ruby-crowned Kinglet.”

Coming up

Fall Sparrows and More, field trip to Marshlands Sanctuary in Rye, Saturday, Oct. 30, 8 a.m., Saw Mill River Audubon, register at 914-666-6503 or email us in advance to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Halloween Owl Prowl, with naturalist Frank Gallo, Saturday, Nov. 6, 7:30 to 9 p.m., free, Weir Preserve, park at Branchville School, Florida Road, Ridgefield, for shuttle vans to the preserve, Bruce Beebe, 203 834-5066

Project FeederWatch, how to be a citizen scientist with Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Saturday, Nov. 13, 1 to 2:30, Audubon Greenwich, 613 Riversville Road, Greenwich.audubon.org, 203-869-5272 x230

Hackensack Meadows / Richard W. DeKorte Park field trip, harriers, kestrels, winter sparrows, waterfowl, Saturday, Nov. 27, 7 a.m., Saw Mill River Audubon, register at 914-666-6503 or email us in advance to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Copyright 2010 by Jack Sanders. Send sightings or comments to: jackfsanders [at sign] yahoo.com, or to Bird Notes, Box 1019, Ridgefield, CT 06877; or call 203-438-1183, extension BIRD (2473), and leave a message with your report, spelling your first and last names and telling us your town. If you need help identifying a bird, try your local nature center. If you find an injured bird, call wildlife rehabilitator Darlene Wimbrow of Redding, 203-438-0618, Wildlife in Crisis of Weston, 203-544-9913, or Wild Wings of Greenwich, 203-637-9822. The columnist’s website is www. sandersbooks. com.