LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Monday, July 14, 2014

Big Baby Bird


Pileated Woodpeckers are among our favorite birds.  We have two pairs nesting in our woods.  Their voices still amuse us, sounding more like tropical birds than mountain birds.

A special treat for us is when the parent brings the fledgling to a tree near the suet.  After several days of feeding the little bird, the parent flies away, leaving the fledgling struggling on its own to get to the feeder.



Mother and baby
The fledgling (on the left) seems as large as the parent.




 Left alone to try its pecking skills.


We are blessed to see these wonderful birds on a daily basis.  It makes us only imagine the sight of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker.



13 comments:

Cheryl said...

They are beautiful.....similar to our Lesser spotted woodpecker.
We have parent and juvenile feeding in the garden at the moment. It is wonderful that you are able to get such good images. As soon as I raise a camera they are gone :(

Carolina Linthead said...

Piliateds were just featured on our bird of the day calendar! It is, indeed, wonderful that you have them so close to you. I've only seen them a couple of times in the wild. So sweet and fun!

Carolina Linthead said...

Oh, and I think their call was the inspiration for Woody the Woodpecker ;-)

Anonymous said...

I know you know how lucky you are to have a view like this out your window. It's good to see that you enjoy every minute of it too!

Arkansas Patti said...

I use to see them a lot in Florida, nary a one here and I miss them.
I think the sound is a lot like Woody Woodpeckers.

Tara said...

on my NC visit a couple of years ago, I saw these birds frequently, from the porch of a house in the deep woods. They are gorgeous! Great photos.

Barb said...

Such pretty crests they have. I love to hear woodpeckers drumming (unless it's on my house).

Barbara Rogers said...

How delightful to see your photos of the family of beautiful birds. Good job capturing them, and thanks so much for sharing here.

Busy Bee Suz said...

They are such interesting birds. So nice you get to witness the 'growing up' of the babies.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great photo of the Pileateds... I have them here --and they come to the suet feeder once or twice a day. (They can eat me out of house and home!!! ha)

It always amazes me when the baby birds are almost always BIGGER than the parents... The parents work hard at feeding them, don't they?

Hugs,
Betsy

Janie said...

How fun to be able to watch the parents raise the youngsters near the house. Great pics!

Vicki Lane said...

Such beautiful birds, We have quite a few around but I've never been lucky enough to see what I could identify as a fledgling

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks for your comments, everyone. Oh, we do love these birds.

Barb - Fortunately we haven't had them drumming on the house, but some neighbors had problems. The woodpeckers were seeking out larvae from carpenter bees.