Day 278: Pileated Woodpecker

The Pileated Woodpecker is one of my favorite Maryland birds. It's quite a large bird (the largest woodpecker in the United States, except for the likely extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker) and can be very noisy when it is calling or thumping on a tree. We have one bird that likes the trees behind our apartment, though it never seems to hang around long enough for me to get a photo. I was able to get a great, close look at a Pileated Woodpecker at a nearby park just a few weeks ago.