Pileated woodpeckers a mainstay in the mountainsWritten by
George Ellison The tapping of pileateds ... means attachment to
a nest site and attachment of the members of a pair to each
other . . . When one pair of pileateds is especially excited
about meeting its mate, it bends its head and bill far back,
waving them back and forth in an arc of 45-degrees as it jerks
its whole body in what I call a ‘bill-waving dance.’ Thus, they
keep their pair bonds strong with small ceremonies. — Lawrence
Kilham, “On Watching Birds” (1988) Here in the Smokies region
there are six woodpecker species one can anticipate encountering
on a regular basis. Red-headed woodpeckers are sometimes
reported, but I have only seen a few in the years that I’ve
resided here. My favorite among this tribe is the pileated
woodpecker. The common name can be correctly pronounced as
either “pi-lee-a-tid” or “pill-ee-a-tid.” “Pileated” indicates
the bird has a crest on its head. The word derives from a
skullcap (a “pileaus”) worn in ancient Rome. M