Crazy About Birds

By Kimb

Pileated Woodpecker ~ Female

Not the greatest photo in the world, but I wanted to snap this woodpecker because even though I see them regularly they don't stop on a tree where I can try to catch a photo, so... They're our biggest woodpecker - almost as big as a crow. You can see this is a female because she lacks the red mustache that the male has.

The Husband asked me this morning - when we saw a pileated woodpecker on our walk - what "pileated" meant. Turns out it means the bird has a crest covering its pileum. Which of course led to the question of what a pileum is. And IT turns out to be the top of the birds head from the end of its bill to its nape. And there we are - our latin lesson for the day, I suppose.

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