Saw a woodpecker last week and didn't know what kind it was

[havocmom]

Admittedly, just caught glimpses as it darted erratically betweens the thick trees, but saw color, shape, and distinct red flash on back of head, along with feather spike. He was almost acting like males do in spring/early summer when they have nest & territory to defend. VERY agitated and aggressive to a family with kids visiting the otherwise people-less area at a large spring that is lush with vegetation.

Described him to Havocdad, who is a biologist/wildlife manager and life-long bird affectionato. Said he didn't have a clue what it was.

Then, I see this today - article about possible Ivory Billed Woodpecker sighting. Bird I saw looked pretty much like this one, but I am no where near FL.
http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060926_ap_rare_woodpecker.html

We have seen many birds here for the first time this summer. Migratory patterns very unusual since last fall. Birds that usually just pass through have stayed. Birds we never see here showed up. And the woodpecker I watched for over half an hour,darting through trees sure looked like this guy.

A-mazing.

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Ivory bills have been tentatively located in LA.

Deep in the swamps, where there are no people. As far as I know, no sightings have been confirmed.

There is a close cousin, however, that lives in Cuba, and it's always possible that they could be blown in by a storm and mistaken for Ivory Bills. IIRC, they are somewhat smaller, but have the same color patterns.

[havocmom]

7. We do get the occassional victims of high winds up here

So I know that is a possibility

The bird I saw was a pretty big boy and had a somewhat primative look about him.

[Buzz Clik]

2. Don't tell Gale Norton.

She's convinced that the only good woodpecker is a dead one.

[havocmom]

11. Not to worry. She won't take my calls anymore

See, I love owls. :evilgrin:

[mama]

3. Pileated, maybe?

http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/pileatedwoodpecker.htm

In Ohio, we see quite a few of these.

[havocmom]

8. Maybe, but the chap I saw had more white.

Almost as much white as black or dark charcoal gray.

[Parche]

4. wood pecker

The only pecker I know is Dick Cheney

[greendog]

5. Pileated Woodpecker?

They're pretty common west of the Divide.



Ivory Billed Woodpeckers would be found in swampy areas if they're still around.

[havocmom]

9. More white and less red

this chap had just a flash of red and the dark/white was almost even

Of all the times not to have my camera. But it was gloomy and shady so photos would not have been distinct, even if I managed to catch the fast bastard!

[greendog]

19. Hairy Woodpecker?

Their distribution:

[havocmom]

20. Doesn't look like him at all

Neck too short, feather spike too short, not enough red, and my pal had some black or charcoal gray on the belly too.

Also, from you map, Hairy Woodpecker range not where I saw the critter. But, then I saw California Brown Pelicans a time or six in Tucson area. Wind does odd things...

[greendog]

21. Havoc Woodpecker?

You discover it. You get to name it.

Here's my theory: Pileated woodpecker builds nest in ICBM silo. ICBM payload is leaking radiation 'cause Bushco has diverted resources to Halliburton/Carlyle. Offspring is a mutant. Drifts into your backyard. Next year they'll weigh 90 lbs and eat the tires off of every car in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota. Havoc Woodpecker.

[havocmom]

22. Funny you should mention that... sighting was within 30 miles

of a site that is part of NORAD here in MT. And we think of this place as
West Dakota half the time :rofl:

[uppityperson]

6. Pileated are big birds, friendly and distinctive

They are big, have a big head on a long neck, sort of dinosaurish. They look like this guy:


Here is a website on them. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/i4050id.html

[havocmom]

10. LOL Guy I saw sounds like all of that. Told Havocdad he looked primative

in the way a roadrunner looks like a dinosaur/bird cross. But he was pretty annoyed. Friendly is NOT how I would describe him.

[uppityperson]

I think I should have said "not shy" rather than friendly.

They are not skittish, but big and dinosaurish. They look really odd when they fly.

[havocmom]

14. This lad looked less like an aerial acrobat and more like Clyde Crashcup

in feathers. I did note to Havocdad the bird seemed to have an ungainly long neck. He was making such a racket, I thought there was a magpie convention.

Magpies... I also wondered: possible for a magpie/woodpecker hybrid? Don't know what breeding combos might work. I have seen hybrids of different hummingbird species, but magpie/woodpecker would be odd. Possible?

[uppityperson]

17. sounds like a pileated to me

very odd looking, goofy, gangly, not much of finese. Don't think magpie woodpecker would work, but you never know, what with these animal/human hybrids.

[havocmom]

18. heard about a box turtle/Senator hybrid

:rofl:

[eppur_se_muova]

12. Camera! Camera! Get a camera!

It's probably a pileated (most claims of ivorybills turn out to be pileated) but take a picture anyway!

on edit: Here's a nice site for ivorybill info/lore: http://www.birdingamerica.com/Ivorybill/ivorybilledwoodpecker.htm

[havocmom]

16. Too much cloud and shade. Plus the chap was moving fast

and erratic. No way in hell I could have managed a picture.

[jedicord]

13. All this week I've had some kind of woodpecker fly to the

tree by my office window. He keeps seeing his reflection and attacking it. I've come to expect his presence every morning around 10:00.

[uppityperson]

15. we had a male robin doing that this spring

thunk thunk thunk, every 30 seconds from dawn until 11, then again in the evening. Drove the cats nuts too. The females finally showed up and he got to quit trying to drive that other male robin away.

[semillama]

23. You're in Montana? Almost certainly a pileated woodpecker

but in the spirit of fun and cryptozoology, here's something for comparison:



Now, note that these are perched birds, and thus you don't see the white parts of the Pileated so much. You mentioned a charcoal gray color, which also supports it being a Pileated. Having handled the skins of both Pileated and Ivory-bills at the same time, the Ivory bill is pretty much jet black, and the Pileated is indeed more a charcoal gray in comparison.

Here's a link to a great photo of a Pileated Woodpecker taking off from a perch, demonstrating the white on its wings:
http://www.gregscott.com/rwscott/rws_neg/019_2_pileated_woodpecker.HTML

Here's their range:


Now, you mentioned being in Western MT, so if you aren't in its range, you're pretty close.

Check out http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Pileated_Woodpecker_dtl.html
for more on Pileated Woodpeckers, and check out the Ivory-bill link on Cornell's front page for more on that bird.