Hello All, Recently I have seen a pair of pileated woodpeckers in my yard. They have been extremely vocal and seem to travel as a pair. We have seen this species occasionally in the past, but they have never been such loud-mouths. Really raucous. One factor that has attracted them is a Virginia pine that just turned brown in the last two weeks.-- My guess on diagnosis of that is bark beetles, and something (maybe the pileateds) has already started digging in the bark. Question: Are these birds courting, or looking for territory? Would anyone care to venture a guess? Is it the right time of year for this behavior? ( I have noticed that the red-bellied woodpeckers have started working on their nest holes in the wintertime, long before they are actually nesting.) Background--In 1989 we had a pair of pileateds, seen once in a while and continued sightings for several years. Then in 1996 we saw only the male. And since 96 until the recent sightings, all observations were of a single male. Was so good to see a pair again. Good birding Linda Baker