'Goliath' woodpecker spotted in Portage

An extremely large woodpecker was spotted in town recently, just off 9th St NE.

Eric Charbonneau says he stepped outside in the lane behind his residence and took some videos of it.

"I was just having a cigarette and I noticed it was a big, big woodpecker," says Charbonneau. "I've never seen something that big before. Usually, they're just small, but this guy, it was huge."

Charbonneau adds he had a very big wing span, and it was pecking at a hollow in a nearby tree. He notes he never saw it again.

(The bird appears to be the largest of the woodpecker species called a Pileated woodpecker - not confirmed - which grows to a length of 18 inches).