IS IT PELL-EATED, PEEL-EATED, OR PIE-LEATED WOODPECKER?

This question has been debated in the dens of ornithology since the invention of binoculars. Some say the bird got his name from Horace B. Pileated, a surveyor for Paul Bunyan in the northern logging camps of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The bird is also known as the “Good God Woodpecker,” because that is what Horace said the first time he saw the bird. “Good God, look at the size of that woodpecker!” The bird could take as large a chunk of tree with each swing of the beak as Paul Bunyan could with an axe.

By the time anyone got around to listing the bird, Horace had lit out for the Black Hills to pan gold, and no one really knew exactly how he pronounced his name. In the south they say PIE-leh-ated, which is correct if you nest south of the Mason Dixon line. In the northeast they say PIL-eh-ated, which is correct if you nest within four hundred miles of Boston. In the rest of the country where the bird is found they say PEEL-leh-ated, which is correct because so many southern women married eastern men and settled the west and changed the English language forever.

The pileated is also known as Cock of the Woods, Logcock, Wood Hen, Lord God Woodpecker, Wood Kate, and Carpenter Bird, and Great God Woodpecker. There are members of this species that will occasionally knock large holes in the sides of homes. They have many names which cannot be printed in this fine manuscript which is rated G.

It is believed that Horace was from a Latin family because pileated has a latin meaning which refers to “tree cleaver” or “beaver cleaver,” which later was shortened in English to “the beav” by Wally, one of the Cleaver Brothers.

The pileated is the largest woodpecker in North America, since it is believed that the ivory-billed is extinct. No matter how many times you see a pileated woodpecker in the wild, it will never cease to amaze you. When it’s after a meal it will wield its chisel-like bill so effectively a cold chill runs through the most courageous carpenter ants as they all trample each other trying to get to the back door.

So next time you see a pileated woodpecker and you’re not sure how it should be pronounced, don’t be too embarrassed to point it out to others. Just say, “Good God, look at the size of that woodpecker.”

--Keep Smilin', Dick E. Bird/From Dick E. Bird's "Birdfeeding 101"

It doesn’t matter what my name,
But who I’m going to be;
As long as I can have my pride,
And whack away at trees.
You can call me Woody,
Pilly, Pie, or Pea;
Just put a bunch of suet out,
And that is where I’ll be.
--Dick E. Bird

Bird Window Strikes

What is the method for preventing birds from colliding with windows?
Reflection off glass kills millions of birds every year. There are products that allow you to cover exposed window glass with a non-reflective plastic coating. Drawing the drapes or using blinds can also reduce the light reflection, which may contribute to crash problems. Sun catchers or turning on lights behind the windows may alter the glare. Helping birds realize there is a barrier is the only sure way to cut down on window strikes.
Since side window airbags are not an option on most homes it would also help to bring bird feeders close enough to the house that birds do not get up to full speed when accelerating off the seed outlet and hitting the nearest pane. Several species of male persuasion are known for their shadow boxing habits. The robin and cardinal are the best known window fighters. They see their own image in the glass and perceive it as a challenge to sacred territory. Putting up cardboard to break the reflection will work but don't be surprised when they show up at another window with new jealousy issues.

Can You Lose Weight Bird Watching?

Can You Lose Weight Bird Watching?
According to the CalorieLab, you burn 102 calories per hour bird watching. Now, this might not sound like much but you can tweak the burn by adding additional activities to your bird watching.
It says you burn 408 calories per hour backpacking, 374 per hour marching, 476 mountain climbing, and 102 walking to and from the outhouse. So while you are out chasing birds carry a pack, march, look for birds on mountain tops and be sure to use the head before you start out from the trailhead.
In addition take your dog, add 136 calories per hour. Use crutches and add a whopping 272 cph. Carry one of your kids or pick one up along the trail and gain another 300 calories per hour. If you don’t like to hike or bird watch just load and unload your car and you are still going to benefit—that’s right, 136 calories just for that little bit of indecision.
Personally, I don’t count calories. I eat a lot and hike a lot and so far that is working for me. In reality you probably can’t add all these activities into one giant calorie total, but you can get out and move. A sedentary life-style can kill you.
Don’t think hiking is making you fat because your hands look and feel puffy. Hiking in hot weather often causes your fingers and hands to become swollen and puffy, so much so that you find it hard to bend your hands to make a fist. If you are not taking in adequate electrolytes, the imbalance in salt levels between the blood stream, the cells, and the extracellular spaces essentially results in a trapping of the water in the tissues as the sodium is lost in sweat. The same thing can happen if you are taking in too much salt. Centrifugal force from the swinging of your arms adds to this effect. So keep your hands up high by holding your binoculars in front of your eyes all day.

More of U.S. grain crop to be consumed by family car.

Almost a third of the U.S. grain crop this year may be diverted from the family dinner table to the family car as fuel, putting upward pressure on food prices.
Grain prices are near record levels as the United States produces more ethanol, now made mostly from corn, to blend with gasoline and stretch available motor fuel supplies.
Farmers, hoping to cash in, are expected to grow 30 percent of this year’s grain crop for ethanol use as more refineries that process corn into fuel come online, according to Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute and long-time critic of using food grains for fuel.
"The price of grain is now tied to the price of oil," Brown said at the Reuters Global Agriculture and Biofuel Summit.
As a result, he said, prices will go up for poultry, beef and pork, as well as dairy products, because corn is the number one animal feed for farmers.
"Our refrigerators are stuffed with corn," Brown said. For example, feed prices make up about 40 percent of the cost of poultry alone, he said.
The pressure on food prices from ethanol will only get worse as the new energy law, recently passed, requires U.S. ethanol production to soar from about 9 billion gallons this year to 36 billion gallons by 2022.
"What we see are cars beginning to compete with people for world grain supplies," Brown said. "We could see a consumer revolt in this country."
Brown said that an SUV with a 25-gallon tank filling up with ethanol would use enough grain, about 560 pounds (254 kg), to feed the average person for one year.
However, the Renewable Fuels Association, a trade group that lobbies for ethanol producers, says corn demand for ethanol doesn’t have a big effect on retail food prices.
The group cites government data that shows labor costs account for 38 cents of every dollar spent on food, with packing, transportation, energy, advertising and profits accounting for 24 cents. Just 19 cents can be attributed to the cost of food inputs like grains and oilseeds, the group said.
Still, rising ethanol demand helped cut world grain inventories last year to an all-time low of just 53 days of demand, compared with the 70 days of grain stocks many food experts say is normal.
Brown said higher corn prices may bring back the backyard-type Victory Gardens last seen in World War II, with rural homeowners planting small plots of corn to cash in on growing ethanol use.
How does this effect your bird feeder? Simple economics. Sunflower production is down because farmers are planting more acreage in corn. Also, food companies are still going to be buying up the remaining sunflower crop to crush into oil that supposedly makes their products healthier. Most birds are going to have to go back to the tactics of yesteryear, steal what they need from the farmer.
Maybe we should all start Victory Gardens for our birds. Grow Your Own.