Piliated Woodpeckers are pretty rare, except on our property, where we've got a few battling for pecking rights. If you haven't seen one, they are huge and prehistoric-looking, about the size of a crow. We've got six large dead trees near the house that support all species of local woodpeckers.
This one surprised me ... I've never seen one on the bird feeder. It must have thought it found heaven.
The next morning I woke up around 4:00AM to the sound of the wind chime frantically shaking. I ran downstairs to find a young raccoon wildly swinging on the cage. It managed, despite that frenzied rocking, to clean out the entire feeder.
