Pileated Woodpecker Using Its' Tongue.

[Daniel Cadieux]

I had a fun time recently photographing this male Pileated Woodpecker working on a feeding hole just three feet off the ground. It allowed close approach and paid virtually no attention to me for some close-up opportunities, which is just as well as the setting was messy to the left and below what we see here (lots of tangled twigs). I did not see the tongue at the time of capture, just a nice surprise discovered while reviewing the images on the computer .

Canon 7DII + 500mm f/4 II + 1.4TC III, manual exposure, evaluative metering, 1/400s., f/8, ISO 1600, natural light, handheld, small crop for comp, reduced the reds on the crest.