Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
Pileated Woodpeckers are unusual in the east bay part of the San Francisco Bay Area, although they are more common in the California forests north of San Francisco (and across the northern U.S. and throughout the eastern half of the country). They are the largest of the North American woodpeckers, and fairly easy to identify by sight due to their size, distinctive red-white-and-black zigzag-patterned heads with long straight beak, and all-black back. All of the photographs shown here were taken in the east bay's Oakland's Redwood Regional Park, where I watched this woodpecker constructing its nest in April and May of 2021. In the early stages, the woodpecker stays on the outside of the tree and drills into it (two upper photos show it in this position). In case you wonder how it gets the drilled wood pieces out of the tree, it grabs a mouthful and then spits them out while shaking its head to disperse them to the forest floor (lower left photo). In the later stage and somewhat remarkably for a bird that is almost 17 inches long, it goes totally inside the tree to complete the cavity nest (bottom right photo). I had hoped to see a female occupy and use the nest to raise chicks, but no luck this go-around. (Click on images to see enlarged versions.)