Pileated Woodpecker

[NJSnakeMan]

Does anybody know if the Pileated Woodpecker ranges in South Jersey? Some of my field guides say they stay here in South Jersey Year long, but my Peterson's dosen't show the Woodpecker's range in south jersey, only North and extreme western. Anybody know???

Also some updates. http://www.freewebs.com/njherpetology/myblog.htm
Camera isn't working so no pictures, sorry.

 

[Bobbleton]

look for old growth. dunno if you're gonna find that . . . but if anybody finds a definate sighting lemme know. I've been on the hunt for good pileated pics lately.

 

[BEHR655]

Saw one up in Morris County on Sunday. First one I ever saw.

Steve

 

[Bobbleton]

Saw one up in Morris County on Sunday. First one I ever saw.

Steve

Were you at the Great Swamp NWR? I was there friday looking for them . . . incidentally first I saw was last week, too--at the Water Gap.

-Bob

 

[BEHR655]

I was well above there. A friend and I went up to Wildcat WMA off of Rt80. There is a Hawk viewing area there that overlooks the Rockaway Valley. No hawks but we did see the Pileated Woodpecker just before we got there.

Steve

 

[uuglypher]

Does anybody know if the Pileated Woodpecker ranges in South Jersey? Some of my field guides say they stay here in South Jersey Year long, but my Peterson's dosen't show the Woodpecker's range in south jersey, only North and extreme western. Anybody know???.

I'd guess not common, but they DO occur there. In the early 80s saw one on the grounds near the Batstow mansion, and in '98 or '99 saw one absolutely butchering a dead pine at Wheaton Village (think I've got the name right - the glass museum and studio near Millville in the Southern PBs) As a kid I was familiar with them in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and up-state NY. Their rat-a-tat-tat-tat on the dead tree they are turning into a pile of chips is charcteristic as a crecendo-decrescendo of a long series of strikes on the dead wood - usually more than ten, maybe as many as 15? I don't know of another woodpecker with such a characteristic chiseling routine.

Dave

 

[Bobbleton]

Also Brandon, I dunno whether or not you read my trip report, but look for these:

These huge rectangular/oval holes they cut into trees seem to be very characteristic of this species of woodpecker only. The holes are a good size--hard to believe anything else would be capable of making them. Pileateds also tend to be territorial too, so if you see holes that don't look 100 years old, chances are that woodpecker is still somewhere near by. They aren't shy about making them, either. In the area I heard (a few) / saw (one), these marks were all over the place.

 

[dragoncjo]

Yeah I doubt there are too many in south jersey, I have seen them frequently in PA. When you first see one it is quite an experience. Their flight is so eratic it appears they are going to crash into the tree. Also if they are out there you will hear them, they are incredibly loud and it seems to echo throughout a forest. I always thought they prefered a more decidious forest vs. pine.

 

[NJSnakeMan]

I just got into birding, so thanks for the info. Bob, i did read your report, i frequent your site and love it all. Lots of downys and red-bellied woodpeckers, found my first yellow-bellied sapsucker and IDed my first hairy this year. Have yet to find a Red-headed.

Also having problems with an Accipiter, don't know whether or not it's a sharpie or cooper's hawk, but without a picture identification is almost impossible. I suck at size comparisons, and it was a spark of the momment kind of thing so i didn't observe it long enough to atleast make an educated guess.

 

[Bobbleton]

Also if they are out there you will hear them, they are incredibly loud and it seems to echo throughout a forest.

Too true!
The first time i can remember hearing one was last summer (though at the time i didn't know what it was). I was descending mount tammany at a time of year when the forest looks more like a rainforest . . . huge ferns are the only undergrowth an open forest floor with huge trees and a high canopy. When we (my friend Jay and I) heard it--it added to the rainforest feel and we commented how much it sounded like a cross between a laughing gull and a new world monkey.

 

[dragoncjo]

Yeah the ones I have seen and heard were also in high canopy in a very secluded forest in central,pa. Same type of habitat as you mentioned, lots of ferns with cool streams flowing throughout. Not the type of habitat you see throughout the pines. Hopefully this summer I will get a picture with my new camera. They almost look like a tropical bird with there coloring and are really amazing the first time you see them.

 

[dragoncjo]

snakeman, the sharpies I have seen preying on bird feeders in my backyard are quite small. About the size of a blue jay, their tail is also shorter and more squared off around the edges. In flight their wingbeat seems to be quicker with shorter strokes. The cooper's I have seen are quite big the size of a crow if not bigger, and to be honest not much smaller then red tails. Not as stocky as a red tail though. The first bird I saw was a cooper's, however at first I was unsure. After seeing a sharpie I realized how much bigger the cooper's are. Also from my experience I tend to see sharpies out on warmer days, were as I see red tails and cooper's out on typical cold winter days. For me if I see one in the sky the cooper's tail looks much longer in flight, it seems to extend away from the wings more.

 

[NJSnakeMan]

Sound like a Sharpie then. There were Red-tailed Hawks in the same field and they were definitly a lot bigger.

 

[Hewey]

I had a shapie hunting in my back yard over the weekend, he sat on my fence watching the tall grass for a good 10-15 minutes befor he moved on.

 

[NJSnakeMan]

Since Monday haven't gone out much- seen a few red-tailed hawks around the neighborhood as usual. I'm heading out to Brigantine Sunday so hopefully i'll get a glimpse of a Bald eagle or peregrine.

 

[foofoo]

i think i can help you out. i was hunting early in the fall like october about 2 years ago when i got swarmed by what looked like a flock of woodpeckers. they had speckled black dots all over there breast and were big in general. i asked my local audobon guy when i saw him and he said there is a type woodpecker that does indeed migrate. i thought he said it was the pileated wood pecker. anyway i see these birds in the fall all the time. if i can find a picture to post i will tell you were you might be able to see the type i saw.

 

[tom m]

pileated

Hey foofoo, pileateds are'nt spotted if they were black and white they could've been hairy woodpeckers or downy woodpeckers ,what color were they .......tomm

 

[foofoo]

i spent a couple hours looking on bird sites and it seems the woodpecker im seeing is a northern flicker i guess. i have seen them in groups of 10 or better and they usually land in the trees next to me and are very inquisitive. http://websearcht.cs.com/cs/boomfra...peckers/Northern_flicker/Northern_flicker.htm

 

[dragoncjo]

Yeah, northern flickers often seem to fly in large groups as you said. I have seen them down at cape may in groups of a couple dozen. Their also the only woodpecker that you will ever see on the ground. I doubt pileateds exist in south jersey, the pileated I have seen are in habitat I've never seen in s. jersey. I could be wrong though.

 

[uuglypher]

...i got swarmed by what looked like a flock of woodpeckers. they had speckled black dots all over there breast and were big in general. i asked my local audobon guy when i saw him and he said there is a type woodpecker that does indeed migrate.

The ones with speckled breasts were undoubtedly yellow-shafted flickers.

The flickers, red-headed woodpeckers, and yellow-bellied sapsuckers are, of the woodpeckers in New Jersey, the most definitively migratory. Some migration can be expected with some subpopulations from the northern-most portions of the breeding range. Remember, although you observe downey and hairy woodpeckers year-round, not all the ones you see in the winter are the same ones you see in the summer - but some likely are.

It's interesting , I think, that among some genera of migratory birds that occupy a broad north-to-south breeding range, the northern-most breeders tend to migrate farthest south, and the distance of migration tends to decrease among subpopulations that breed closer to the middle of the latitudinal extremes of the species' breeding range. In the mid-latitudinal and more southern regions there are many birds that are year-round residents.

Dave