Recently I read an article in the Spring 2025 issue of Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s LivingBird magazine on research that shows that woodpeckers are the homebuilders of the forest. Woodpeckers excavate nest holes that are subsequently used by numerous other species of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects.
Here is an example of a Pileated Woodpecker nest in a snag at Naples Botanical Garden being used by bees after it was abandoned by the Pileated Woodpeckers. The first photo shows a Pileated Woodpecker looking out of this nest on 12/26/2020. The second photos was taken of the same nest on 11/29/2022 and shows the bees have taken over the nest.
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