A Pileated Woodpecker doing neck exercises

Perched in a Saskatoon Berry Bush, this crow-sized Drocopus Pileatus (Pileated Woodpecker) reaches for some dried berries just within reach of his long beak. With all of the snow and cold weather, winter food has become more of a challenge. This is a male woodpecker that is scrounging food with his mate (who has more black on her forehead) who take a break from hammering away at the bark of a nearby ponderosa pine tree to have a bit of a change of pace from the normal food fare of tree-boring insects, ants, and flying insects.

This is a Pileated Woodpecker, male and are usually between 16 to 19 1/2 inches tall, mostly black, with a bright red crest, and white eye stripe. The large wings and body make this woodpecker the largest in the Pacific Northwest and Interior British Columbia.

Bear Creek Canyon Regional Park east canyon rim, West Kelowna BC - November 23, 2010.

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