When our family first moved to Spring, Texas, my mother startled us with the declaration that she'd seen a woodpecker the size of a chicken in the yard.

None of us believed her until recently, when we saw a magnificent Pileated woodpecker on a backyard utility pole. Indeed, this black-bodied, red-crested woodpecker is the largest in the U.S., measuring 16 inches long. It has a 30-inch wingspan and a raucous call. It closely resembles the (until recently) extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

Woodpeckers are generally seen alone or in pairs. They move up tree trunks, searching for carpenter ants and bark beetle larvae, or digging holes for nesting spots. They have very hard, chisel-like beaks, and extremely long tongues to probe for insects. They also use their beaks to hammer and tap, communicating with one another. They can move at 20 pecks a second! All woodpeckers have short legs and long, strong toes with curved, sharp nails so that they can cling to trees, as well as stiff tail feathers to help prop them up as they work.

Feathers around their nostrils filter wood dust, and their thick skulls have special sacs that cushion the brain from impact. Woodpecker anatomy has been studied to lend some insight into protecting humans from head injuries.

Along with Pileated Woodpeckers, our area is home to the smaller Red-bellied, Downy and Red-headed woodpeckers, and the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We have such a variety of woodpeckers here because of our trees, trees, trees. As we see the land surrounding us being clear-cut for new subdivisions and strip centers, our wooded neighborhood becomes even more important to wildlife.

Woodpeckers are beneficial, as they eat insects in dead trees, preventing the spread of those insects to healthy trees. Many birds and mammals make use of the woodpecker holes for their own dens and nests. You can attract woodpeckers to your yard by putting out suet cakes or sunflower seeds in a feeder with plenty of perching room.

To see color photos and to hear the calls of various woodpeckers, visit http://www.birds.cornell.edu. And have fun exploring your own backyard!

© Carol Wells, 2008