Pileated Woodpeckers Dueling! Seriously

Usually the enormous Pileated Woodpecker stays up in the trees and away from people. But this week I witnessed 2 males having a duel which included them flying within 10 feet of me! And then fencing together on the ground for over an hour! What spectacular birds.

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#nature #birds

[PatriciaDonovan-gm]

I expected a beak to beak sword fight. I forgot that the rule for staying alive during a wild animal duel is to touch each other as little as possible.

[lanasinapayen]

Peacefully arguing for hours and hours? Sounds like two academics at a conference dinner

[ArghansMordonMarghek]

The reason why, they don’t attack each other with their beaks, is because they know what damage they can do, and so they don’t risk exchanging blows, because they could both be wounded enough to stop them from flying, and many creatures who are well armed, act in a similar manner…….

[ivsab]

I'm glad that they were able to work it out without resorting to violence.

[spiderhands]

Forget throwing hands, a dance off will settle it

[Wildicon]

This is a unique opportunity to see these two males dueling! You are lucky to capture such an amazing event!

[dafnimbus]

I am a birdwatcher who has seen 180 species of birds including pileated woodpeckers. I loved this video!

[davidclaudy]

I’m doing a large landscaping project behind my bosses house. He backs up to the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge. We have a bunch of Pileated Woodpeckers in the woods and I listen to them and watch them throughout the day. Beautiful birds.

[monicapushkin]

It is always a treat to see ONE of these incredible birds. But to see two like this, WOW.

[Wondering_About_Nature]

I've seen Northern Flickers do this but never Pileated Woodpeckers! They are so huge to begin with but seeing these two was awesome. I can see why you were overwhelmed to witness such a spectacle!! ❤❤

[Robinjuneable]

Back before everyone had phones, I had a woodpecker fall in love with a small metal fairy on my porch. Everyday he would bring her a big juicy bug and try to give it to her. After a few weeks, he gave up! LOL

[yeshgv]

I appreciate you for filming this and sharing it with us!

[christinedavison]

Wow, absolutely amazing. You are indeed privileged to have witnessed this wonderful spectacle. ❤

[Abdominal]

It's always a treat to spot one of these big boys, this was an amazing capture! Good job!

[hlwjgirl]

I love these birds. So beautiful and u must have been very excited. I would have been.

[jcking]

I know there’s absolutely no reason to tell you how lucky you are, I’m sure you know! What an amazing gift that you were able to capture on “film“. My sister lives on five wooded acres and we hear them a bit more often than we see them. That is until they started pecking apart her cedar home. She’s an avid birdfeeder and the smaller chickadees and titmice were caching sunflower seeds in the tiny crevices in her wood home. Then the pileated would come behind them and destroy large pieces of wood to get to the seed. A purchase of those large yellow balloons with “eyeballs” now adorn the perimeter of her home to keep them at bay. 😳

[maxasaurus]

They are so beautiful they almost don’t look real. Great video!

[jfu]

Last summer I came across a pair of them that were doing the same thing! Hopping and circling around a tree, they were so caught up in their competition that they didn't notice me. Thanks for the video, it reminds me of Westside Story with circling and snapping fingers, cue dramatic music!

[CatApocalypse]

So cute how they just hop and flop around!

[christineplaton]

...so cute. " I can do anything you can do. I can do anything better than you" in action. I've seen many woodpeckers, but never anything like this. Thanks!