shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileVermont

in the hardwood forests of the Green Mountains

Pileated woodpecker on a hardwood snag

Name: Pileated woodpecker on a hardwood snag — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — the drum a dead tree learns to make.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“The pileated is the big one. Crow-sized, red-crested, the bird you hear before you see — a slow hammer-strike rolling through a stand of sugar maple and beech. The snag is half the story. A standing dead tree, soft enough to chisel, hard enough to hold a rectangular cavity the size of a mailbox slot. The forest leaves the snag for the bird. The bird leaves the cavity for the wood duck, the saw-whet owl, the flying squirrel. A whole economy on one dead tree. from the studio

from the studio

— bring it home

Pileated woodpecker on a hardwood snag, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Pileated woodpecker on a hardwood snag

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

The pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is the largest woodpecker in North America north of Mexico, roughly 16 to 19 inches long with a wingspan near 30 inches. In Vermont it lives year-round in mature mixed hardwood forests — the sugar maple, American beech, and yellow birch stands that cover most of the Green Mountains. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies tracks it as a resident species statewide. The bird needs old wood: large-diameter trees for cavity nesting, and standing dead trees, called snags, for the carpenter ants and beetle larvae that make up most of its diet.

— informed by Vermont Center for Ecostudies, Cornell Lab — Pileated Woodpecker

— the silence

A northern hardwood stand in November holds a particular quiet. Leaves down, sap pulled, the deer hunters mostly home. The pileated's call carries a long way in that air — a loud, irregular kuk-kuk-kuk that birders learn to separate from the flicker's faster trill. The drumming is slower and deeper than any other Vermont woodpecker, ending in a soft fade. Audubon Vermont notes the species needs roughly 100 to 200 acres of contiguous mature forest per pair, which is why the bird is a reliable signal of a working, uncleared woodlot.

— informed by Audubon Vermont

— the season

Pileated woodpeckers do not migrate. The pair holds the same territory through the Vermont winter, working the same snags for ants frozen deep in the wood. February drumming starts the pair-bond renewal; April brings the cavity excavation, often in a beech weakened by Nectria canker. Young fledge in late June. The rectangular feeding holes left in winter — sometimes a foot tall, often a hand deep — are the easiest field sign in a Vermont woodlot, visible long after the bird has moved on to the next tree.

— informed by Cornell Lab — life history

— where

United States · Vermont

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

at the lake

Green Mountain National Forest

national forest

at the lake

Camel's Hump

Vermont peak

Pileated woodpecker on a hardwood snag

Green Mountain National Forest

Camel's Hump

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Pileated woodpecker on a hardwood snag — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

About 16 to 19 inches long, with a wingspan near 30 inches. It is the largest woodpecker in North America north of Mexico, roughly the size of a crow, with a flame-red crest on both sexes.

Standing dead trees, called snags, hold the carpenter ants and beetle larvae that make up most of its diet, and the softened wood is workable enough to excavate a nest cavity while still structurally sound.

Resident year-round. A breeding pair holds the same patch of mature hardwood forest through the winter and works the same snags for frozen ants under the bark.

A pileated feeding excavation. The bird chisels a tall rectangular opening, sometimes a foot high, to reach carpenter ant galleries. The shape is diagnostic — no other Vermont woodpecker leaves it.

Common and stable. The Vermont Center for Ecostudies tracks them as a widespread resident across the Green Mountains wherever mature hardwood forest remains intact, roughly 100 to 200 acres per pair.

Wood ducks, hooded mergansers, saw-whet owls, flying squirrels, fishers, and pine martens all reuse abandoned pileated cavities. One pair's nest becomes the next generation's housing across the forest.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The pileated is the prize bird of a working Vermont woodlot — the signal the forest is old enough to hold one. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note carries well.

Cabin-modern, mountain-modern, and warm-Scandinavian rooms. The red crest reads against linen white and unfinished oak; the dark snag holds its own against deeper wood-paneled walls.

Yes. Native species art with credible regional specificity is the core of the biophilic movement. A Vermont pileated reads as place-anchored in a way generic nature prints do not.

A single Large above a console or narrow sofa, or a four-tile Mural above a longer sofa. The vertical snag composition rewards portrait orientation.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and humidity-tolerant, suitable for backsplashes, shower walls, and powder rooms.

A microfibre cloth and water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective finish, so it will not fade or wipe off.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is drawn from the single studio eye of Reid Wender. No licensing, no stock imagery, no third-party art.

— if this one stayed with you