A friend called me this morning who lives near Clatskanie, Columbia County, to
tell me about the piliated woodpeckers at his place. He lives on a farm with
forestland nearby, and has around 20 mature apple trees that the deer and elk
appreciate. Apparently so do piliated woodpeckers. He said up to 10 at a time
are in the trees, knocking down apples. Then they break them open on the
ground, he assumes to pick out grubs inside. The broken apples are cleaned up
by the deer/elk. He said he's seen this behavior for years. I hadn't heard of
it before, plus that's quite a number of piliated to have all at once.
Lona Pierce
