The pileated woodpecker's Latin name translates into "wood cutter" or "tree cleaver."

These large, dark woodpeckers are about the size of a crow; they are the largest North American woodpecker. They have characteristic red head crests, white stripes down the sides of the neck, and large white patches on the undersides of the wings.

Pileateds prefer to live in mature or nearly mature dense, coniferous forests with large dead trees and snags. They have also been seen in large cottonwood stands along rivers.

The pileated's diet consists of mostly insects (they love carpenter ants!), with some consumption of fruit, acorns, nuts, and sap. In the winter, when the ground is snow covered, its diet is mostly dormant ants.

Their strong bills are longer than their heads.

They use their bills for drumming, accessing food, and excavating. Both the male and female drum, usually on a dead tree, to advertise territory and to attract a mate. Pileateds also drum before going to roost at night.

The bill is used to dig for insects in dead, standing trees and logs on the forest floor, to tear apart anthills on the ground, and to strip off the bark of dead trees to get at wood-boring beetles. The bill is also used to excavate roosting and nesting cavities.

Wood ducks, flying squirrels, and Douglas squirrels often make their nests in abandoned pileated woodpecker roosting cavities.

More info...

Pileated Woodpeckers sleep (roost) and nest in cavities (holes) of live pine trees. Cavities are built only in large, old pines. The birds peck the bark around the entrance to get the sap (resin) flowing around the hole. The sticky sap keeps predators like snakes away from the nest cavity.

The male bird is from 16-19" from tail to head (crow-sized) and has a flaming red crest. The female has a blackish forehead, and lacks the red mustache below the eyes.

The Pileated Woodpecker is no longer on the endangered species list.

Still Reason for Concern: Pileated Woodpeckers may still have problems because the open forests with big, old pine trees have been replaced by forests with younger, smaller pines. Also, periodic natural fires which historically kept the pinewoods open have been suppressed since settlement. Periodic fire is needed to control the brushy understory and keep the pinewoods open. Controlled burns are the main reason this bird has become more widespread and removed from the listing of endangered.

Size: up to 49 cm (19.5 in) long

Diet: Insects found under the bark and along the branches of pine trees

Habitat (where it lives): Open pine forests with large, widely-spaced older trees

Reproduction: 2 to 4 eggs

Interesting Facts: A woodpecker group roosts and nests in a cluster of 1 to 30 cavity trees. Most clusters have some cavities under construction, some completed and in use, and some abandoned.




 

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