Most likely a feeding situation at this time of year. They are going after wintering carpenter ants inside the tree, which tells you that even though the tree is alive it has some heart rot which is where the ants like to be. If the bird continues feeding on this particular tree, over time the hole or holes will become enlarged into a long channel running down the trunk, like below:
http://www.marieread.com/cpg/displayimage.php?album=112&pos=1 ON the other hand, below is a nest hole but not likely that they'll be excavating for a nest until April or early May.: http://www.marieread.com/cpg/displayimage.php?album=112&pos=9 Marie Marie Read Wildlife Photography 452 Ringwood Road Freeville NY 13068 USA Phone 607-539-6608 e-mail m...@cornell.edu http://www.marieread.com ***NEW*** Music of the Birds Vol 1 ebook for Apple iPad now available from iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/music-of-the-birds-v1/id529347014?mt=11 ________________________________________ From: bounce-72690423-5851...@list.cornell.edu [bounce-72690423-5851...@list.cornell.edu] on behalf of Diana [whiti...@roadrunner.com] Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2013 11:48 AM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Pileated Good morning! While walking our dog, my husband saw a live tree that looks like a Pileated Woodpecker has been excavating. It has a pile of chips at the base, and a few holes encompassing the tree. I think the tree is a live tree also. My question is, is a nest or a place where it's eating, and is there a way to know the difference? Diana Diana Whiting dianawhitingphotography.com -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
