Birdtober Day Ten: Pileated Woodpecker

 

I have Pileated Woodpeckers on four of my checklists, all in 2021. Two of those checklists were in Missouri, one in Kentucky, and one in Tennessee. The main impression I had of these birds when I saw them was, "Wow! They are so big!" Pileated Woodpeckers are 16 to 20 inches long. 

For this bird today, I'm not writing a new poem, but instead sharing one I wrote for a friend back in November 2020 when she sent me a photo of a Pileated Woodpecker while I was still living in Haiti.

 

An Exchange of Woodpeckers

You sent me your woodpecker
And I sent you mine.

Yours:
Pileated,
Dryocopus pileatus,
Crest a bright cherry red,
Enormous, powerful bill.
Black and white striped head,
Large, glossy, black and white body,
Long black tail,
Hanging out in a maple tree with a few yellow leaves still clinging
As November began.

Mine:
Hispaniolan,
Melanerpes striatus,
Grey-headed,
With a red crown as bright as the northern guy’s,
Enormous, powerful bill,
Yellow and black striped back,
Long black tail,
Peering down from a bright green neem tree
As November began.

An exchange of woodpeckers
Across the miles,
Photos flying faster than these birds ever could,
Showing their faces to people in another place
Before the woodpecker cousins finish eating their latest bugs. 

©Ruth Bowen Hersey