Indiana Pileated woodpeckers

by Tracey Norman
(Geist Lake, Indianapolis IN)

We live right on the edge of Geist Lake in north central Indianapolis. A week or so ago, I was upstairs when I saw something rather large land on a tree in the back yard. It had a bright red head. We have seen many other species of woodpeckers in the yard: hairy, downy, red bellied. However, I had never seen a pileated woodpecker. It was in the tree, pecking and making a large round hole. It continued this for several minutes so I ran downstairs to get my binoculars. It was still there when I returned so I just watched it until it flew to another tree and then out of my sight.

This morning my husband was up before me and he witnessed two pileated woodpeckers on our suet feeder. This feeder is just a normal sized suet feeder with peanut and berry suet bars.
I went out today and purchased a pileated suet feeder, one with a longer bottom piece to help them to balance with their larger tail feathers. I also bought several different types of suet, based on the recommendation of the clerk at Wild Birds Unlimited. I bought a peanut cake, a berry cake, and also a peanut cake with pieces of insects. The pileated woodpeckers have not been back yet, since I put the new feeder up, but the other smaller woodpeckers are enjoying it in the meantime.
We are eagerly awaiting the return of our pileated woodpecker pair!

Comment
Wonderful photo! More ideas for suet feeders. Susan