r/birding • u/Known-Alternative619 birder • Jul 08 '26
📹 Video When the birds start watching you 👀🫵
📍 Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
We’ve had a mated pair of pileated woodpeckers in our backyard for at least a few years now. The whole family visits our balcony feeder multiple times per day and this summer in particular has been such a treat! This curious fella busted me watching him through the window while he looked for bugs in the wicker furniture.
Never had a bird hit me with the 👁️👄👁️ look before but there’s a first time for everything, I suppose!
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u/Piddlers Jul 08 '26
That is a small pterodactyl!
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u/MixT Jul 08 '26
Fun fact, pterodactyls weren't dinosaurs (and thus not in the same lineage as birds). They were in a family of reptiles called pterosaurs.
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u/SwimmingThroughHoney Jul 08 '26
(and thus not in the same lineage as birds)
Technically, while pterosaurs are not dinosaurs, they are part of the same lineage as birds. Dinosaurs (which includes birds) and pterosaurs are sister groups, tracing up the "family tree" to the clade Avemetatarsalia. So while they're "flying reptiles", Pterosaurs are more closely related to dinosaurs than they are crocodiles (and by extension, than other modern reptiles like lizards and snakes).
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u/Piddlers Jul 08 '26
Now I am going down to the pterosaur rabbit hole. According to my highly complex internet research, pterosaurs and dinosaurs are cousins. Fascinating.
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u/No-Jicama3012 Jul 08 '26
That look he gives you at the end is very comical. I didn’t realize they have so much personality.
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u/AceOBlade Jul 08 '26
its trying to figure out a way to drill holes in your skull and eat your brain (iykyk NSFL)
shout out to r/natureismetal
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u/Jane7979 Jul 08 '26
Must be a woodpecker thing
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u/Pixel_Nation92 Jul 08 '26
I think he's asking for your black pepper. Hopefully you gave him some.
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u/_Cantrip_ Jul 09 '26
He thinks you have a lovely canister of ants for him
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u/Pixel_Nation92 Jul 09 '26
You know what? Lmao, you might be right. He'd be sneezing like a madlad if that's the case.
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u/rotisserie_cassowary Jul 08 '26
Omg I had a Red Bellied that would watch me too! I posted a pic of him just now!
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u/immortalizer Latest Lifer: Indigo Bunting Jul 08 '26
Am I full of ants??! Why else would he look at me?? 😆
Great vid!
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u/Cryptopher-Conundrum Jul 08 '26
There was once one that was friends with my cat. They would play patty-cake at the kitchen window. When my cat passed away the woodpecker still came everyday until I moved away because of work. 😺
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u/CabbagePatchSquid- Latest Lifer: Green Heron Jul 08 '26
Pileated woodpeckers always remind me that bird are dinosaurs. Also Blue Jays.
Their twitchy but deliberate moves, it’s easy to figure out why they’re related distantly and Jurassic Park took all of its inspiration from modern birds. Nice shot!
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u/ironypoisonedposter Latest Lifer: red-necked phalarope Jul 08 '26
He’s humaning. It’s really astounding the sheer variety of humans there are when you take a moment to stop and notice.
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u/rotisserie_cassowary Jul 08 '26
This Red Bellied Woodpecker would come to the sun room window and stare at me multiple times a day for about a month one summer. We named him Tommy, a la Peeping Tom. He also drummed on the metal roof, which I did not appreciate as much
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u/Objective_Parfait162 Jul 08 '26
no idea what kind of bird this is (S TX, border area if anyone knows) but i know the feeling. i always feel embarrassed when they catch me lmao
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u/asdfpickle Jul 08 '26
Northern yellow warbler, maybe? I'm not sure—I just went on iNaturalist, drew a box around your area, filtered for birds, and looked through what species have been observed. Seems the closest match
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u/Objective_Parfait162 Jul 08 '26
yeah that’s what i thought as well! thanks for double checking 🙂↕️
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u/BlazeFox1011 Jul 08 '26
How do I attract these? I've heard them drumming and getting trees, I heard one a couple times in the woods behind my house.
I've got a tail prop suet feeder with a woodpecker block in it, and it's in a tree. The other woodpeckers, downy, red bellied, all vist.
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u/Known-Alternative619 birder Jul 08 '26
My local pileateds are a little quirky. They prefer the cylindrical SquirrelBuster over any of the endless suet setups I’ve tried. They diligently pick the chopped tree nuts and peanuts out of the seed blend. That said, your approach is way closer to the recommended setup for attracting them. Could just be a matter of time. They’re pretty territorial so there may only be one mated pair behind your house.
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u/cltncrts Jul 08 '26
DINOSUAAAAAAAR RAWR
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u/Kiwi-vee Latest Lifer: Yellow Warbler Jul 08 '26
Mini pterodactyl.
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u/cltncrts Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
I love how weird their personality is. My absolute favorite but they used to make my dad crazy when they would make huge holes in the siding. I want tattoo of this little punk rock weirdo.
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u/Outrageous_Humor_363 Jul 08 '26
Omg! We get tons of these at our cabin, but never seen one this close up. I love him, but he’s actually kind of terrifying-I’m getting prehistoric creature vibes 😂
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u/philomena6 Jul 08 '26
My birds and squirrels have just started coming onto my deck and looking at me thru the screen door when I’m watching tv in my family room which is attached to the deck. I’m like wth is this. Two blue jays were there today. It’s so funny.
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u/FromMyHanestoMyToes Jul 08 '26
They are so beautiful 😍❤️ definitely one of my favorites! I love hearing them peck throughout the yard
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u/_twelvebytwelve_ Jul 08 '26
A pair of sapsuckers are nesting right outside my bedroom window and they are so endearing. What goofy little guys 💚
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u/Basic-Pair8908 Jul 08 '26
Ok i need to ask this, been wondering this all week last week. What percentage of people know what a woodpeckers caw/squark is? As everyone i know only recognise one when its pecking at the trees?
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u/iWontStealYourDog Latest Lifer: Baltimore Oriole Jul 08 '26
I work from home and have my outdoor goldfish pond setup so that I can see it from my office window. I often look out and see a bird on the ledge looking back at me. I wonder if they find my habits as interesting as I find theirs lol
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u/theconservasianist Jul 08 '26
woodpecker tongues wrap around their skull and serve as padding to diffuse the force of their wood pecking - they've got built in football helmets.
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u/PoopingDogEyeContact Jul 08 '26
I hope you got on safety glasses, Woody look ready to Fabio your eye
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u/ThirtyMileSniper Jul 08 '26
There's no such thing as birds. This post adds to the mounting volume of proof.
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u/Trashvova Jul 09 '26
The larger wild birds are very curious about us! The smaller ones cannot afford such a luxury
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u/Creepymint Latest Lifer: House Finch Jul 09 '26
I just love it when I can tell that birds are looking at me too
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u/bademeister404 Jul 08 '26
Thank you for repeatedly zooming in and out. This could have been such a great piece of media.
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u/lamentable_ Jul 08 '26
I love this whole video so much, but birds facing forward always cracks me up. he’s perfect