Someone's been busy.
On December 8 (2022) I noticed this rotten tree had a smallish hole dug out of it.
Today (January 7) the hole has been extended to a channel about eight foot in length.
I'd have said #woodpeckers except that's a lot of work in about a month.
Do any mammals make channels in rotting trees like that?
@crosswordman it’s from a Pileated Woodpecker. For A fun app and way to contribute biodiversity sightings to #vtatlasoflife check out @inaturalist
@kpmcfarland @inaturalist Thanks! I see the #PileatedWoodpecker is quite a bit bigger than the ones we see on bird feeders here. That explains the fast work of tree destruction.
I will look into @iNaturalist. Thanks for the suggestion.
@kpmcfarland @inaturalist My image of woodpecker industry and appearance comes largely from #WoodyWoodpecker, which seems to me a good match for the pileated. But I gather Woody's species is a matter of some dispute ...
https://www.npr.org/2009/03/10/101665227/woody-the-acorn-not-pileated-woodpecker
@crosswordman @inaturalist 😆 yeah I remember that. And some said it was the ivory-billed woodpecker. It sure doesn’t look like an acorn woodpecker. Birding in the cartoon world is harder! 😆