57 years ago last time I saw one..around here.

[worldtalker]

Last time I saw a WoodHen was 1965,down in the Great Smoky Mountains it was nearly every day.I heard the hammering as I drove down into the Meadows,looking around I spied him way up there.



Water has peaked and now receding but a lot of the fields are underwater yet..






That dark spot is the eagles nest.




Homeless camp across the river..



Couple more weeks I'll be mowing,after I roll it that is.


GOD Bless

Chris

 

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[RustyGold]

Awesome pictures Chris! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Mackaydon]

Interesting that you called it (correctly) a 'wood hen'. I've never heard that description before. When I lived in Connecticut (in the 50s) we'd infrequently see them in the woods behind our house--and we called them pilieated woodpeckers. Now I see the both names define the same bird.

Good memories of those sightings; thanks.
Don......

 

[tamrock]

I don't think I've ever seen one.

 

[BosnMate]

I've never seen one. Interesting.

 

[HCW]

I saw one a number of years ago hear in eastern Ma. that was all of it's maximum growth size.
It was standing on the ground next to a tree and stood easily 20 to 24 inches tall.
I've been a carpenter for more than thirty years, I think I have a good sense of size.
I've seen a few more over the years but never as big as that one.
They can be LOUD when comes to pecking.

 

[worldtalker]

I saw one a number of years ago hear in eastern Ma. that was all of it's maximum growth size.
It was standing on the ground next to a tree and stood easily 20 to 24 inches tall.
I've been a carpenter for more than thirty years, I think I have a good sense of size.
I've seen a few more over the years but never as big as that one.
They can be LOUD when comes to pecking.

They are quite a bird to set your eyes on,that pecking is called "hammering" and can be heard a mile away.
A rather loud mouthed bird too.

 

[worldtalker]

I don't think I've ever seen one.

Google what they sound like,you'll never forget that call!!

 

[tamrock]

They have a strange range. Looks like I'd need to travel a ways if I'm ever gonna see any. Seems they avoid the dryer parts of the country.

 

[devldog]

Great pic's. I saw one of these woodpeckers in Myrtle Beach, S.C. while camping in Lake Arrowhead Campground with my family as a young boy in the 60's. This was the largest woodpecker that I had ever seen. Thanks for sharing these pic's with us.

 

[Old Dude]

I can't believe you don't see them more often. I definitely hear them way more than I see them too lol. I saw a huge one a couple years ago as it flew right in front of my windshield. It wasn't 2 ft tall, but definitely the biggest one I ever saw.

 

[DannyB.]

I've recently been seeing these woodhens in Southeast Texas.. I believe it is the same bird.

Big beautiful wood pecker.. but, hell on trees I guess.

Strange though, I've lived on that property for 20 years; just started seeing them in the last couple years.

 

[ronwoodcraft]

I have quite a few of them where I live in north central Idaho, but have never managed to get a pic of one. They do some major damage to trees.

Some of these oblong holes are a foot tall.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Up here they are called "Pileated Woodpeckers". Got a number of good pics,
but they're on my old hard drive and not yet transferred to this one.

Pileated Woodpecker | Audubon Guide to North American Birds

IIRC, there was one sub-species that lived in Oklahoma, and if you find one
there is a huge reward (said to be extinct).

Can't mistake a Pileated when he's in your neck of the woods...sounds like
a jackhammer working on a tree!