Participant Photo: The mature male Pileated Woodpecker

Once the Pileated Woodpeckers began showing up at my feeders (it took six years), they became reliable, frequent visitors to the suet feeders. This particular woodpecker is the one that I think of as “Big Daddy” – the largest, mature male that I’ve seen. Females will also show up, as well as, younger smaller males — his progeny, I suppose, but this guy is the main man. What I love about him is that I can change where I put myself and my camera and still get decent photos because I can rely on him to come virtually every day. The one frustrating aspect of his visits is how much he eats! He can polish off an entire suet cake in three days. LOL