--- Dorothy Dawson-sheldon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Greetings,
> This morning we were treated with a pair of pileated woodpeckers in
> the front yard doing a mysterious dance up and down the bottom
> portion of a maple tree. ...

Hello Dorothy,

I think you saw courtship behavior. Bent's Life History for the species
includes this description:

Francis H. Allen has written a description of a formal dance at a season remote
from mating time; and, since the description has not been published, and since
it is pertinent to the question of permanence of mating, it is here given at
length:

"On the side of Mount Monadnock, N. H., October 13, 1908, I watched two birds
executing a sort of dance. When first seen they were clinging to the bole of a
spruce, near the ground. They hopped up and down the trunk, frequently pecking
at each other's bills simultaneously, now on one side of the tree, now on the
other. When I got too near they flew a short distance to another tree, and I
followed them about from tree to tree for about half an hour, often within 50
or 60 feet of them. They always lit at the base of the tree and worked up a few
feet, seldom going more than 5 feet up, I think. They hopped backward and
downward a great deal, and often they lifted and partly spread their wings.
Their motions were limber and undulating, marked by a certain awkward grace,
without the stiffness of the smaller woodpeckers. The crests were elevated
occasionally. I noticed no difference in the markings, but I was then
unacquainted with the sexual differences of the species, and I cannot say
whether or not they were male and female. They occasionally uttered a faint
wa/dc, wa/dc, wa/dc, in a soft, conversational tone; but it was for the most
part a silent performance." [Copied from http://tinyurl.com/5y7gk7]

I would have thought that our woodpeckers would be well along in raising young
now. I wonder if this courtship is part of a renesting attempt.

Happy birding,
Paul

Paul Gardner
Columbus, OH

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