Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park, Oakland, California, USA
May 2021
Member of the Woodpecker Family
§A Crown of Woodpeckers§
★The Largest North American Woodpecker★ (RIP to a real one)
{Etymology Corner} What's a Pileat? How does one become Pileated? And why did so many people think this bird was a Pleated Woodpecker? This bird was originally named (for European audiences) by Mark Catesby in 1729. It was called the Larger Red-crested Woodpecker. Carl 'the big guy' Linnaeus, went ahead and renamed it when he included it in his big book of species in 1758. Pileated means 'capped' in Latin, and Linnaeus was famously crazy for Latin, so now we're stuck with it forever. Since we were talking about it a few months ago, I would rank this bird as Tier A in the bird name tier list (purely descriptive). For what it's worth, I think the occasional Latin word snuck into a bird name is a little bit mysterious and exotic, but doesn't actually 'add' anything. I wouldn't want it happening more than it happens already, but I appreciate it when I see it.\
~True Bird Fact~ A big strong woodpecker who makes big strong holes. Both the feeding action and the nest digging of Pileateds are pretty dramatic. They have a distinctive rectangular shape and have been known to snap smaller trees in two inadvertently while excavating their nest cavities. These cavities can be really substantial and intricate, with multiple 'escape tunnels' and sticky sap barriers to stymie predators. The Pileated Woodpecker burrows become homes for many animals once they are abandoned. The woodpecker above was photographed while digging a hole, and you can see him above spitting a bunch of woodchips out. I hope his kids are doing good now.
So this picture also comes with a birding story that I just have to share with you, dear reader. The Pileated Woodpecker has been my 'nemesis bird' for pretty long time. One of the few birds that regularly make appearances around here that I fully had never seen, let alone photographed or blogged. So when an unusually detailed rare bird report about a Pileated Woodpecker excavating a nest in the nearby Oakland hills, I had to go check him out. Another experience chasing a 'rarity', although in this case, less rare, and less chasing, since this was like a 20 minute drive.
The only issue was that my wife was pregnant with our second child, and her due date was less than a week away. Long story short, at approximately the same I took this picture of a father woodpecker, preparing his nest, my wife's water broke. Being in the middle of the park, I did not have cell service for an approximately 2 hour window, and that's when the baby decided to come. So my experience was that as I got out of the no-connection area, I got to learn that my wife was being driven to the hospital by my mother, instead of by me. Not a great look!
Everything worked out in the end though. She wasn't upset, and I was able to meet her at the hospital instead. A few days later we were home with a new healthy baby girl. NB, this baby is also probably the reason bird blogs have become even less frequent in these trying times, but we're making an effort, reader! This (along with the time I drove the car into a ditch to get a picture of a bird, and some surfers had to pull over to help us get the car out) will live on forever in my wife's gleeful retelling of it.
