Pileated Woodpeckers in the woods by our house. These are
huge, like hens!
They were doing a little dance, so of course I Googled it
and found this:
These birds have been observed performing a courtship dance. This dance consists of one bird bowing, scraping, and stepping sideways in a circle around another bird.
I was curious about the coloring as they both looked the
same, I know in some birds the male has the more striking colors. According to
the internet, the male and female both do have the same coloring, the striking
red head etc., with the only difference is a small red mustache on the
male.
Well, both of these had the red
mustache, so I guess they are both male, and maybe it wasn't a mating ritual
after all. Or maybe it was… not that there's anything wrong with that…
