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 ************************************************* BRISTOL BIRDS NET LIST Bristol Birds Net Photo Gallery located at: http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jwcoffeyy/album?.dir=/efd5 This is a regional birding list sponsored by the Bristol Bird Club to facilitate communications between birders and bird clubs of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee. -------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed to Bristol-Birds. To post to this mailing list, simply send an email to: bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send an email to bristol-birds-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the one word 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. -------------------------------------------------- Wallace Coffey, Moderator wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (423)764-****