Woodpecker Or Nature's Lumberjack?

We have a wood pecker in our backyard who seems to have a goal of taking a tree down by Christmas. This bird seems extremely passionate about his work and also seems to be gaining weight/size in the process. So far, he's not bothering anyone (it's not like he's waking us up in the morning or anything) so we think it is pretty cool. We've taken a few pictures over the past few weeks. My hope is that he won't get done with the tree and move to bigger/tastier things (namely the house).

My thoughts for the day: Do wood peckers get headaches? If not, can we study them and re-apply? If so, what do wood peckers do/take to get rid of them?