holey trees, batman!

[twoeleven]

i saw a couple of trees in a nearby woods with unusual sets of holes in them. each of these pictures is two views of one of the trees.





what made the holes? the smaller set of holes in the first tree looked like the work of an enthusiastic woodpecker, but the holes on the other side suggested it was h. sapiens, in the forest, with a hammer and chisel.

but on the other hand, the second tree looks more like the bark was clawed off by something digging for insects in the rotten wood. as far as i know, the largest clawed animals in those woods are red foxes, and i'm not sure they're tall enough to reach that high. or that they forage that way.

anybody have any ideas?

Comments

[bluepapercup]

I think these are all the work of woodpeckers, possibly/probably pileated woodpeckers. They make the large rectangular holes with the big pile of woodchips, and excavate bark as well! A couple photos here: https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/tree-cavities

[twoeleven]

aha! that sounds right, since i've seen woodpeckers like that around here. i didn't know they made such big holes, though.

[bluepapercup]

I didn't either! I have a few naturalist friends who lead walks and such and it's been a great way to learn a ton about birds that I had no idea about.

[ranunculus]

I wouldn't expect to find a woodpecker working that low on a tree.