don't know about your woodpeckers but i have a pair of lewis's woodpeckers who have nested here last 3 years. i also have lots of orioles and i put out fruit and jelly and watermelon for the orioles, the young Lewis's love the jelly and watermelon and eat lots of fruit and they come back every year. i also have downeys and hairys and flickers that use the same feeders as the Lewis's

they are found mostly on the western side of the rockies and the mountains of the west coast and prefer areas that have burned in recent forest fires and their main diet in warm weather are the beetles and bugs and insects that swarm in to the dead trees. i was born in Utah and grew up in Nevada and worked mostly in Colorado and Washington in the log woods and sawmills and see them mostly in the mountains in summer. here i'm in the foothills and they nest in april or may and after their young are good flyers they head up into the forests till the snows drive them down lower again.

i live in southwest colorado and had more Lewis's around this spring than ever before. I talk to several local dedicated birders on a regular basis and they tell me that the favorite habitat for the Lewis's are burn areas from forest fires or controlled burns. we have had too many fires in this area the last few years. There are lots of beetles and bugs and insects and worms ect. that make for a real feast for the woodpeckers. Could there have beeen lots of burn areas around Ontario in recent years?

You've come to the right place. I've had seven species of woodpecker in my yard, and they all love the suet log. I have a horizontal log and a vertical log. Put the log somewhere that squirrels can't get to it (like on a pole with a baffle) but near a tree so the woodpeckers feel comfortable. My woodpeckers are fairly picky and spoiled. I use Attractor peanut flavor suet. I use this year-round. It's really cute during nesting season because the parents will come fill up their beaks with suet to take back to the nest, and then the fledglings will come later. Here's what my setup looks like, and a few of my visitors: Pileated woodpecker: Northern flicker and downy: Yellow-bellied sapsucker: Red bellied woodpecker: Red-headed woodpecker (in the burr oak near the feeder): Very beat up spot on the oak tree where all the woodpeckers like to land before flying over to the feeder: And also the usual downies, hairies, plus nuthatches and chickadees. Put out your suet log, and the woodpeckers will come. -- Liz in Bloomington, MN Backyard weather and feedercam: http://www.overlookcircle.org Photo gallery: http://www.pbase.com/gymell/liz_favorites Follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lizmstanley