Hi minnamouse. Been missing you on the GW. Yes kind of hard to talk to Mom and Dad on certain subjects. The more habitat we remove the fewer birds we will see. Lived here 46 yrs. Only saw one pileated WP. Steve in Baltimore County.

some woodpeckers will adapt to nest boxes or roost boxes.
Also there is about one hundred acres of mixed woods and grass on two sides of me. And the birds come in from the woodsy area to my feeders.from as much as a 1/2 mile away.
A pair of Lewis's woodpeckers nest every spring about 2 hundred yards away in a patch of trees and oak brush. but come to feed and bring their young to the stuff in my back yard. so if you keep good feed out the birds will find it.

We have a pair of Pileateds that hang around in the woods by my house. Whenever I am lucky enough to see them, it is always always always on the old dead Oak tree in my neighbor's back yard or else on a telephone pole. As far as the other Woodpeckers and Flickers go, I do get them into my yard where the suet feeders and BOSS feeders are. I'd worry most about not seeing the Pileateds, but if it's their property, they will do whatever they feel is best I suppose. People worry about dead trees falling during storms and high winds I think. Like you, I enjoy the look of them. :o)

Can you at least try to convince them to leave a few of them?

I've done the opposite on my lot, removed live trees (mostly Norway maples, yuck) and left the dead trees standing! They do indeed attract many woodpeckers, including Pileated, and I even had Bluebirds nesting in a couple of the snags for 2 years. Unfortunately, when the lot was partially cleared there is less support and more wind passing through, especially when we have a windy rainstorm (the dead wood gets saturated and is much heavier). At least 6 of the snags have blown over in the past couple years, including the 2 Bluebird snags. :(

Dead wood is very important for many species, not just for nesting, but for perches, lookouts, and sources of food. Many insects overwinter in soft wood and under the bark. I think dead trees, logs, etc. add character too, but many people, esp. older people, have a fixated idea of what is "proper" landscaping. Good luck trying to convince your parents.

If the dead trees are not at risk of falling on any structures or cherished landscaping, there is no harm in leaving them - but the branches and trunks DO fall eventually.

Falling trees would be a problem but we have none that close enough to the house to cause problems. I don't have any bird feeders out. I like to encourage them to feed on their own by planting certain plants, keeping brush piles, etc. but I may need to start doing this. Even if my yard was the way I wanted it, filled to the brim with food and home opportunities, the majority of the rest of the world just isn't as hospitable to them as our properties are. My lovely wooded town is being filled up with clear cut properties to place large houses and boring lawns with non-native plants here and there. It's people like us that offer wildlife few respites in the increasingly developing world. Makes me sad that so much wildlife is being extirpated.

Thank you Oscar! I've been struggling with health issues and haven't been able to do much, even tiny little things like gardening. I finally found out why I've been a zombie these past ten years. I'm suffering from a high degree of sleep apnea that resulted in severe sleep deprivation despite my sleeping over half the day away. I wake up over 40 times an hour!

If anyone is routinely tired, I really encourage you to get a sleep study done! I don't even fit the profile but it turned out that I have it.

Ms minnamouse, I hope your sleep apnea improves. My sister had the same problem and got one of those devices you put over your head. She sleeps like a log now!

I agree it is sad that landscaping conventions dictate large lawns, non-natives strategically placed here and there, and don't forget to mow and blow everything to within an inch of its life! No place for wildlife to habitate.

In my yard I keep my front yard fairly tidy (still mulch with leaves or leaf mold and plant at least 50% natives) but the back yard is a naturalized landscaping style that is a much higher percentage of natives. And the back yard has the dead snags, logs, and branches for perches, brush piles, thickets of growth, and a little meadow. I actually saw Rusty Blackbirds poking through the leaves out back this fall. This was once a common bird, but its population has plummeted over the last several decades, about 85-95%! They are not sure why this has happened.

Still working on removing invasive plants from the back though.