I finally spotted a Pileated Woodpecker after 2 years of waiting

I was just sitting on my porch last Tuesday morning with my coffee, not really expecting much... and then I heard this loud hammering sound coming from the big oak tree in my backyard. Looked up and there it was, a Pileated Woodpecker about the size of a crow, just going to town on an old branch. It stayed for maybe 5 minutes, pecking away and flicking its head around. I couldn't even grab my phone fast enough to get a picture, but honestly just watching it felt like winning the birding lottery. Now I'm wondering if there's something specific I should put out to keep them coming back around here. Has anyone else had luck attracting these big woodpeckers to their yard in the suburbs?

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camerona794d ago

Did you try putting out a suet feeder? My buddy Dave in the next town over had one show up after months of trying. He swears by those peanut butter suet cakes from the hardware store, not the cheap grocery store ones. He said the bird came back every day for two weeks until a squirrel chewed through the feeder cable. Now he's got it rigged up with a metal cage and says the woodpecker still visits but the squirrel got fatter.