Much better, Ed. The last Pileated shot is the best because the blacks are black. On the others, it looks like you are trying to lighten the black feathers too much, resulting in a blue-gray instead of black. It also brings up more noise, which you can see in the background of the first three shots.
Man those Pileated are huge! Nice work on all these Ed, I prefer the ones that have a little extra room around them I find each shot here very pleasing for color and sharpess. No favorites, they all stack up well my friend
Now where's a pic of YOU poledancing? 
