Kent's posts of his recent ornithological encounters reminded me of a not-so-often seen bird that wound up at my place a number of years back.
I had a place in eastern Lincoln County, about an hour east of OKC. It was a good drive back and forth to work. My (at the time) wife called me in the middle of the day, frantic about some "monster" bird that was establishing the front porch as his territory. She was keeping the kids indoors because she was convinced this thing could fly off with one of them. She said the dogs were even afraid of it.
From her description it was either a Pterodactyl or Andean Condor. I told her to keep the kids locked up 'til I got home...o.O When I got there that evening, there was no bird in sight. The boys, 3 and 5, weren't much help in describing the creature. I was pretty well convinced that mass hysteria had swept the homestead and it was either an owl or some sort of hawk.
The next morning at dawn I trotted out the back door to feed all the animals. As I started back to the house from the barn I stopped dead in my tracks...there was the biggest damn woodpecker I had ever seen in my life hanging on the side of the tree between me and the back door! This thing had eyes the size of a quarter..and he was definitely eye-balling me!
I chunked a rock or two at him and he finally yielded to me, reluctantly. His wingspan must have been almost three feet. He never actually got aggressive, but he sure kept his eye on me. Once indoors I armed myself with my trusty Benjamin air-rifle (just for plinkin'....NOT for killin'). After a 15 minute game of cat-and-mouse from tree to tree, I nailed him good a couple of times. I think he got the message that this was MY turf. I later learned he wound up at a neighbor's place a quarter of a mile away, stirring up his hunting dogs.
The thing that made my hair stand up was how intelligent this bird seemed. He was watching and maneuvering...we were engaged in a standoff, an he showed no fear what so ever!
I later learned this was a rather large Pileated Woodpecker...
... not so common in Oklahoma. As for his intelligence and attitude; the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker was fashioned from this bird. Their intelligence and impish play are apparently their stock-in-trade. Haven't seen one since and that's been 35 years or more. A true close encounter of the third kind.
I think they are on the endangered list. When I lived in the NC mountains, we had them all around. They are big. I'd never seen one in person before then. The ones in my "hood" made a ton of racket when they took to the wing.
Other woodpeckers I had seen before were about the size of robins.
The pileated ones seem to be about 10 times that size. Way bigger than any crows we had around there. Almost as big as a wild turkey - we had tons of those around.
Yes, they are protected and highly unusual around my neck of the woods. I have never seen one, but my father said there used to be a few in the woods.
I think the Native Americans hunted them to near extinction and they have hard a hard time recovering with pressure from modern society (air rifles)....
Pileated live around here. We get along fine. They eat bugs from a big dead tree, and they are beautiful.
They are happy, cause they eat what bugs them! (Like a bullfrog)
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N
Are you sure it wasn't an Ivory Bill?
They are extinct, yet sightings happen from time to time.
I imagine one would be a millionaire if they were able to catch one. Alive, that is.
Speaking of Ivorybills....
Deep Enough for Ivorybills is a great book of hunting/nature essays written by an english professor at UGA. Of course that was back when a college professor could write about hunting without having a group of professional student activists blockade his campus office with a drum circle and sage burning cleansing ceremony.
Cornell Lab of Orinthology states their conservation status as 'least concern', unlike their cousin the ivory bill which may well be extinct. Mighty impressive woodpecker. Never seen one but sure would love to. I'd be tickled pink to have one hanging around my place as long as he didn't start jackhammering on my house, which has been an issue with some of woodpeckers around my place attracted to the suet I put out for them. They get to hammering on the clapboards, it sounds like being inside a big base drum with some maniac beating on it.
Ivory Bills
The Pileated have 4 toes and the Ivory Billed have 3, I believe. This one had 4.
There have been some controversial Ivory Bill sightings in SW Arkansas and SE Oklahoma from time to time...but no hard evidence as of yet.
Wiki says they are protected under the Migratory Bird Act.
I have read that the Native Americans used the colorful plumage of the males as a form of currency.
If you have ever heard one of those woodpeckers hammer on a tree, you will never forget the sound.
One had a nest in my back yard in a dead pine until the tree rotted down. Darn bird's racket would make me 'bout fall out of bed when it commenced a hammerin'.
Definitely nothing else like it, except the racket made by its cousin the Ivory Bill.
Once they were in great numbers around Caddo Lake and made square looking holes in dead trees, poles and other wooden structures for their nests.
They are still in Cass County and I am not saying where to keep the lookey loos away.
It would be like saying wolf in sheep country, the reward seekers would take over the area.
The Migratory Bird Act, one of the very few authorities under which the Fish and Wildlife Service has to operate under. The list of birds covered by the treaty is very extensive and they are protected under international treaty and yes, the Pileated woodpecker and just about every other woodpecker you can think of are included. I only know all this because my significant other works for the F&W Service.
Up to a $15,000 fine for taking one. That's a whole lot'a wampum.
Don't know about the ivory bills. Glad my local pileateds didn't bother with my house. I watched one pecking one day. There's an understatement - pecking. I can't imagine the G forces of the brain on impact. The feller I was watching while he was working his tree big time was wearing it out. Might as well throw him a hammer drill. That boy was sticking his nib like thrusting into King Aurthur's stone and working it back and forth. It'd take me a hammer and chisel to do that.
Note to self: don't track wild turkeys. They'll track you back.
Biggest "freakout" for me was running into a small flock (covey?) of pheasants. They are not indigenous to Alaska, but some of the artsy folks down in Homer had them as pets. As they went forth and multiplied, they were turned loose. Lower Kenai Peninsula's climate is conducive to their survival so they are taking over the grouse country. AK F&G has an open season with no bag limits. They are tasty!
-JD-
A covey of quail spooked me one time. I didn't know they were there. Boy do they all make a serious racket when they take off. Never got a shot off. Wasn't really hunting for real that although I was all strapped up for it. Just teenage angst and wanted to get out of the house and be alone in the woods mostly.
We had pheasants back in the mid-west (south central IL). When I got to the western NC Appalachian mountains we had ring-necked grouse that locals called "mountain pheasants". They weren't anything like the pheasants I grew up around. More like a Cornish game hen - and, yes very tasty. Better than chicken if you ask me.
