Pileated Woodpecker – Ready To Fly

This may be our last chance to see the Pileated Woodpecker.  It is mid May and the fledging is ready to leave the nest.  It is her habit to perch at the edge of the cavity and watch the world go by. She can call out like a grown bird now, no more rasping baby call. When she grips the edge of the tree and leans out into the woods, she looks confident, and full of herself. The sharp laughing call has authority, as if she is saying “I”m on top of the world”

Mom thinks it is time to fly. The female perches on a higher branch and calls out to the fledging. The tone of her call has has a soft cooing quality. It is both cajoling and insistent.  She does not go to the nest. She does not bring food. She rests on her perch, cleans her feathers, watches and waits.

Dad joins her on a nearby branch,  and he begins to call.  The fledgling cranes her neck in every direction to find her parents, but they do not fly to the cavity. The parents remain on their perches. Calling and waiting for over an hour. The poor fledgling has lost a bit of confidence. She makes a few half hearted leans, and then retreats a bit to the inside of her home. She reminds me of a small child looking down over the edge of a high diving board for the first time.

The sky is dark now, and rain is falling. I need to go home, but I know the family will be gone in the morning. So much work has gone into bringing up this youngster. It took both parents to excavate the cavity, and brood the eggs. From sunrise to sunset the Pileateds fed their young every hour. They have fended off predators, and lost one of their nestlings. It has all been done to bring one Woodpecker into Bolin Forest.

It is not easy to say goodbye. I will miss these birds. For weeks, I have visited them, and watched them raise a family. They struggled and overcame many obstacles.

Stay safe my friends.