--- 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 ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]