Monday, July 17, 2017

Pileated Woodpecker

Hello and happy Monday,

I am sharing the Pileated Woodpecker for my wild bird and nature post this week. The Pileated Woodpecker is one of the largest woodpeckers I see in the USA. It is said  they are crow-sized and their habitat is deciduous forest. They are common birds seen and heard in the woods next to my house and these photos were taken mostly in Florida.




They ae mostly black with a red crest, the male has a red line from the bill to the throat. They eat carpenter ants and mostly dine on insects.


A Pileated Woodpecker couple will stay together year round in their territory.


They make large holes in dead trees and raise their young in a nesting hole. After the young lest the nest they will not use the same nesting hole. Other birds will take over the holes left behind.



My YouTube video




I am not sure how many bloggers are having problems with anonymous comments, what do you keep your comment setting on blogger? I am thinking about not allowing anonymous comments. I only get 1-2 anonymous comments that are legit. How do you handle these comments, thanks for any help.



Thank you for stopping by and as always I appreciate your comments.

My list of memes for today, I hope to see you there. Thanks to both of the host below.


Thanks to Michelle for hosting Nature Notes
Thanks to Stewart for hosting Wild Bird Wednesday

65 comments:

  1. Woodpeckers enjoy the cedar on our house.
    The holes are not pretty . . .
    I wonder what they are eating.
    I do enjoy seeing them flitting about in the back woods.
    (Fortunately, their hole pecking has been on our fireplace chimney surround . . . so far!)
    (We have refigured the cedar with another product in that area.)

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  2. Hi Eileen, this Pileated Woodpecker is beautiful with its red spiking headdress! I suppose it will be making very loud pecking noise when it pecks. Really amazing seeing the way it pecks, its peck is so strong!

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  3. Hari OM
    Firstly Eileen - love this bird and that second shot is a winner!!!

    Next - definitely ban the anonymous comments; I have mine all on 'registered users', so that WPress and other different bloggers can still access but it cuts down on the spammers. Not that this completely eliminates spam; I have had a recent spate with apparently legit Blog/G+ profiles, but they all include links to nefarious sites - mainly gambling of late - and all that is required then is that you go to 'comments' on the dashboard side bar (3rd down on), select all the dodgy ones with a tick and then hit the SPAM button at top of page - that way Blogger is alerted and will seek to prevent further comments from that particular source. If you get your comments sent to you by email as I do, then it is worth 'spamming' them there too, as then the mailbox will also weed that particular one out if it tries again. It's a nuisance... but so is having put out the wheely bin every week... &*> YAM xx

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  4. These are great close ups! I see woodpeckers here. I love the spiky red 'hair-do'! I hope you have a great week.

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  5. It sure looks large, and love the red crest, looks like its dyed!
    Its certainly a unique bird, and the photos and video captures it all.

    As to your question about Anonymous comments, do you get them on recent posts or older posts? I tend to get some on older posts, but seeing as I set moderation on posts older than two weeks, any such comments will stay awaiting approval, and will either get published or deleted as spam by me. I hope that helps.

    Have a nice week!

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  6. This truly is a beautiful bird with its bright red crest! I love your photo of the couple looking skyward!
    Have a great week Eileen!

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  7. I am still looking forward to my very first sighting of this particular woodpecker. A neighbor says he has seen one in a tree in his ya d. Sos far, I have t seen it. Wonderful pictures of the ones you saw!

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  8. Stunning shots Eileen, only ever seen one at a distance.
    Have a good monday, Gordon.

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  9. Wow you got some amazing shots ! There are woodpeckers around ; I can hear them and a few weeks ago spotted one in a tree when I was out for a walk. I rarely see them though! :)

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  10. Helloo, Beautiful pics of Pileated Woodpecker.
    Have a nice week ahead.

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  11. I love the bright red head of the pileated woodpecker! I've heard they can cause a lot of damage to trees and houses though.

    I stopped accepting anonymous comments years ago. They were hardly good ones--mostly ads or spam.

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  12. Hi Eileen! Your photos are really amazingh one. Love all of them, but #5 is the winner.
    Since the day I changed my settings to registered users, I haven't gotten one spam comment. Bloggers don't have time for that malarkey. :)
    Have a great week!

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  13. Hello Eileen!:) Great captures of this striking Pileated Woodpecker. A real beauty! I hadn't realized they are so large.

    I tend to get anonymous comments on old posts every time, but as they are awaiting approval, I delete them as soon as I detect what they are.

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  14. I love to watch these guys move. They seem to levitate, more than fly.

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  15. Hello,

    Beautiful woodpecker! They are noisy, but lovely.
    Happy Monday, and enjoy your new week ahead!

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  16. Beautiful photos and video on this lovely woodpecker, Eileen! Thank you so much for sharing. As for allowing anonymous comments, I do allow them. See, I have some friends who have blogs from WordPress, Skynet and even more places than that, so if I were to disallow anonymous comments, I would either lose these people or they would be forced to register on Blogger in order to comment. So I leave it alone, as I like to allow everyone to have the ability to comment. I do get the odd spam comment, but very few. And I moderate every single comment on every single post, so what I do with the spam ones is click on the "spam" button. This is more effective that the "delete" button, because if you click on the spam button, the person who made the spam comment will no longer be able to make anymore comments under the name they made it. In other words, they would have to re-register and/or choose another name. So most of the time they will just not bother. I hope this helps you. :) Have a fantastic week ahead, dear friend.

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  17. this is one woodpecker i never see - not in nature reserves or in my back yard!! it's a beautiful bird and i really enjoyed the video!!!

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  18. A fabulous Pileated Woodpecker Eileen, well photographed too.

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  19. Wow Honey! You show amazing pics and heart, Eileen!

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  20. Hi Eileen,

    By the way, I also wanted to add...in reference to the anonymous comments. I get very few spam comments, and I have also had a couple of spam comments from registered Blogger users, so disallowing anonymous comments will not guarantee getting rid of all the spam.

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  21. Man, oh, man!! Once again, you have me green with envy. Just to see one of these in the wild, I'd be a happy birder. And to top it off your 'couple' image is outstanding. Great job of an excellent bird Eileen.

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  22. In all the time we have lived in Florida I have only seen TWO of these. I always get a little thrill seeing "Woody" the woodpecker. LOL

    I do not allow anonymous comments on my blog.

    I still get some spam comments, but they are few and far between. I just delete them.

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  23. Need to ammend my comment ..........I DO allow all comments. (I had to go back and check) ......I just delete the inapproriate ones.

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  24. These are gorgeous photos of the pileated woodpecker Eileen. As for the settings to prevent spam and anonymous comments, I am also set at 'registered users' thanks to another blogger when I mentioned how tired I was getting all the spam. I get no anonymous comments now and rarely do I get a spam comment. The only time I receive those is when someone has a website, but as I mentioned, it is very rare. Good luck and have a great week :)

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  25. These are fabulous shots, Eileen. I've only ever seen just one of these guys and it was a fleeting viewing!

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  26. Wonderful pictures. I've seen these around here a few times. Love to see them!!

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  27. Eileen, These are awesome pics. We see these birds in our woods but my camera is not good enough to take photos of them. Thanks for sharing.

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  28. What an amazing woodpecker Eileen. It must take it ages to carve out a nesting hole!
    Have a wonderful week :)

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  29. What beautiful photos!! I would sure love to see one!!

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  30. Eileen, he is a gorgeous fellow. Looks like the size of the one around my house too. I'd say about 14" long and a very feisty pecker. Loves the dead trees in the wooded part of my yard. I just don't like it when he starts pecking at my pole barn. Dangerous business. LOL Thanks for sharing your wonderful pictures.

    I haven't had any problems with anonymous comments. You can go to your settings and just not allow anonymous comments at all or just keep moderation on and then not publish them. I don't think there is any good reason for remaining anonymous.

    Hope you are having a great week.

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  31. Great pictures, though not one of my favorite birds. One was a plague of a camping trip.
    May your days be bright

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  32. I like pileated woodpeckers and you've got some good shots of them.

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  33. Stunning pictures and a great video! One of the most special birds in the woods.

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  34. These are wonderful photos, Eileen! These woodpeckers remind me of pterodactyls...:) They have the wildest of cries....it used to scare one of my old dogs, years ago - poor thing. Such a thrill to see them, though. Hope you have a good week. xx Karen

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  35. I delete them if they are ads, especially if they contain links, but keep the legit ones.

    These birds are amazing. Fantastic creations!

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  36. Eileen, I have loved seeing these...we see them in Indiana but I have never got a decent shot of one and these are excellent!

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  37. Hi Eileen,
    what a wonderful haircut ! Amazing...
    Fabulous photos too.
    Best regards, Synnöve

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  38. What a gorgeous bird -- and what fabulous photos. I bow down in awe to your nature photography!

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  39. What a beautiful bird! We see them here as well. I remember sitting beside one that had knocked into the glass and needed a few minutes recovery time on the deck.

    I set my comments to moderate for a certain period- anything beyond two weeks old, for instance, has to be approved. The spam filter usually catches spam automatically without you even having to deal with it, but every once in awhile a spam comment comes through. I check the spam comments anyway, because periodically a comment ends up in there that shouldn't be there.

    Perhaps switching out your moderation settings where you presently have to approve every comment will help- let the spam filters sort out the actual spam and allow comments for whatever suits you- the last three days, the last week, whatever works.

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  40. I don't get many anonymous comments..They seem to go in to spam..Lovely shots of the Woodpeckers..I have never seen one around here..

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  41. Great photos of this great looking woodpecker.

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  42. Great shots Eileen- I see these birds near the lakes...but I don't have a sharp enough camera lens to get any good photos. You always get such great ones. Have a wonderful hump day- it's going to be close to 100 today and I am once again wishing my summer away because I am no great fan of the heat!

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  43. Hi Eileen. The Pileated is a very unusual woodpecker isn't it? It is so big in comparison to our own woodpeckers. But then I know you have some huge trees in the USA? LOL.

    Sorry to hear you are troubled by spammers but reading the comments above I think you have soom good advice. if you mark them as spam in your dashboard, Blogger will catch up with them.

    See you at weekend.

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  44. Wonderful photos of this beautiful bird! I have seen only one here and it was years ago.
    Hope you are having a wonderful week!

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  45. great photos of a wonderful looking bird!

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  46. Gorgeous pictures of this beautiful bird!

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  47. Hi Eileen, wonderful photos of the pileated woodpecker! They are such interesting birds. Thanks for sharing all this!
    Robin

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  48. Great pictures! This woodpecker looks nice, working all day long.
    have a nice day!

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  49. Great shots, Eileen. It is a great looking bird to be sure. They are present here but we don't see them nearly as frequently as you do.

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  50. I like this woodpecker. Especially the head :) It looks cool. :)

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  51. Really lovely Pileated Woodpecker! Great video too.

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  52. Oh wow...I would love to have a photo of the one who is in the woods here...wonderful Eileen

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  53. Hi, I'm running behind. My son, Grandson and I escaped out of town for a few days for a much needed time off. I enjoyed your video of the woodpecker. We have the pileated and downy woodpecker here, just saw one a week ago going after the cat food, and that was a first! I've never seen one on the ground, and, darned if I couldn't get a picture of him! They are such an interesting bird to me, and your photographs are really great! Have a great weekend Eileen!

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  54. I don't think I've ever seen a woodpecker in person so thanks for the wonderful photos!

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  55. Such fabulous photographs of the Pileated Woodpecker.

    On the low carb diabetic blog ... all comments have to be moderated.
    It's amazing the mix we do receive!
    However, the majority are fine ...and it's always nice to receive, read and share them.

    All the best Jan

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  56. Oh my, what an interesting fellow, Eileen. I see them at the trail sometimes pecking away at the trees, but they are called red headed woodpeckers. They have a red head (the hair doesn't spike up like this one), and not such a long neck. They are quite beautiful, as is this Pileated Woodpecker. They are funny to watch, aren't they?

    Happy August!

    ~Sheri

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  57. Congratulations for the amazing photos!
    Absolutely a new bird to me.
    It was nice to see it.
    Luisella

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Hello, thank you for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

BTW, Anonymous comments unless a name is included will not be published. Also, comments with links will be deleted.

Have a happy day, Eileen

Happy Monday!

Wishing everyone a great day and a ha ppy new week! "One small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day." "T...