A specific creature has created the holes you see in the tree trunk above. See all the shavings on the ground underneath it?Can you guess which species it is that does this !?!
Here's some hints:
- It's rarely seen
- It's bigger than your head
- It's not a unicorn sharpening it's horn
XoXo
Looks like the work of the same kids that randomly gouged the hell out of half the desks at McMain:)
ReplyDeleteDryocopus pileatus
ReplyDeleteBig as my head? Well maybe big as your elfin head! I was thinking a woodpecker. But now I'm sure, after checking Panne's answer. Panne always knows. ;-)
ReplyDeleteCheryl W-T
Mara! ha ha. Do you remember that at NOCCA Jamie would use the hand drill to drills holes in all the school desks? I suppose some kids need more tactile outlets. :)
ReplyDeletePanne - Ding ding ding. Thanks for guessing the scientific name and not totally giving it away right off. ;)
It's the giant woodpecker, known as the Pileated Woodpecker - and they are the second largest woodpeckers in the world! I freakin' love them. They do get quite large, up to 17 inches... which is mostly likely bigger then most people's face. I think?
Here is what Enature.com has to say about these birds:::
"Description: 17" (43 cm). A crow-sized woodpecker. Black with white neck stripes, conspicuous white wing linings, and prominent red crest. Male has red "mustache," female has black.
Habitat: Mature forests and borders.
Nesting: 4 white eggs in a tree cavity.
Range: Resident from British Columbia east across southern Canada to Nova Scotia, south to northern California, southern Idaho, eastern North Dakota, central Texas, and Florida.
Voice: A loud, flicker-like cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk, rising and then falling in pitch and volume.
Discussion: After the extremely rare Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), this is the largest woodpecker in North America. Despite its size, this elegant woodpecker is often shy and hard to observe. Obtaining a close view of one usually requires careful stalking. Although primarily a forest bird, the "Logcock" has recently become adapted to civilization and has become relatively numerous even on the outskirts of large cities, where its presence is most easily detected by its loud, ringing call and by its large, characteristically rectangular excavations in trees. Its staple food consists of carpenter ants living in fallen timber, dead roots, and stumps. The woodpecker excavates fist-sized rectangular cavities, then uses its enormously long, sticky tongue to reach the ant burrows."
If you want to hear the sounds this woodpecker makes go to this LOoooong link:::
http://enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=&searchText=woodpecker&cmdSubmit.x=13&cmdSubmit.y=7&GroupID=&curGroupID=1&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=4
Canary-
ReplyDeletePanne does know ;)