Pileated Woodpecker's "Drive-Thru"
By Diohio
28 Mar, 2008
3 likes
I'm just joking, but sometimes the holes made by the Pileated Woodpecker are SO big. We have many black cherry trees on our land and that's their favorite tree to make holes in. They will then go back to their holes on a regular basis to check for insects that have been trapped in the sticky sap inside the holes. The black cherry tree in the pic was a new project of theirs.
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When I was a kid...many moons ago...we had a wild cherry tree growing in our front yard... it was literally consumed by ants...before we knew what was happening this huge mound erupted beside and beneath the tree. it wasn't a small three either it had a trunk about foot around. It seemed to bleed to death...sap on the trunk and dripping from branches...was this the work of only the ants, do you think? Or was something else at play too?
3 Apr, 2008
I have no idea Lori, but it sounds wicked ! Maybe the ants were the cause, but I've never seen a black cherry ooze sap like that. Even these big Pili holes don't make it ooze like that.
3 Apr, 2008
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Oh you are so fortunate! That is one species I have always wanted to run across and have yet to do so. I have red bellied, hairy, downy and once a red headed woodpecker that come to the peanut feeder in the yard, but have never been lucky enough to come across this one out birdwatching. Not enough old growth locally, I guess.
28 Mar, 2008