FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Re: Elizabethton Yellow-crowned Night Herons

[merlinz02@xxxxxxx]

I just wanted to comment and add a couple things to Don's post.

In the the same tree as the nesting Pileated Woodpeckers, a nesting 
pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers had also taken up residence.  Diane 
Draper and myself observed the two birds mating.  It was interesting to 
notice, just before the mating process was complete, the male (on the 
back of the female) extended his wing forward totally covering the 
female and held it for a few seconds before flying off.  Soon there 
after, the birds were noticed going in a hole on the back side of the 
same tree, but a little lower than the PIleated Woodpecker's nest hole. 


The male Pileated Woodpecker was first observed interacting with one of 
the Red-bellied Woodpeckers.  After that was noticed, the nesting hole 
was found and you could see the top part of the female sitting inside 
the hole.  The male Pileated seemed irritated by our presence and 
didn't want to return to the hole.  Don and Diane moved on down the 
way, but I stepped behind a tree.  This was my first active Pileated 
Woodpecker nest and I wanted to intrude just a tad bid more.  From my 
"blind" spot behind the large Poplar I was able to observe the male 
finally returning to the nest.  He poked half his body in the nest 3 
seperate and distinct times before finally going all the way in.  This 
gave me an indication of how big the cavity inside the tree was.  Now 
there were two full sized Pileated Woodpeckers inside the nest hole.  
Amazing!

It was truly a wonderous day and one I won't forget!

Rob Biller
Elizabethton, TN  
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