Woodpeckers, Doves & Other Land Birds
Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
A crow-sized woodpecker with a flaming red crest. It chisels large rectangular holes in dead trees while hunting carpenter ants.
How to identify it
- Very large, mostly black body
- Bright red crest
- White stripes on the face and neck
- Large white patches under the wings in flight
- Loud, wild, laughing call
SizeAbout the size of an American Crow
American Robin10 in
Pileated Woodpecker18 in
American Crow19 in
Canada Goose37 in
6 inAverage length, bill to tail
Details
- Size
- 16–19 in long; wingspan 26–30 in
- Weight
- 8.8–12.3 oz
- Habitat
- Mature forests with large dead trees, wooded neighborhoods
- When to see it
- Year-round across the East and the Northwest
- Diet
- Carpenter ants, beetle larvae, berries, nuts
Range in the United States
Life history
Food
Digs into dead wood for carpenter ants and beetle larvae; also eats fruit and nuts.
Nesting
A cavity dug into a large dead tree, with an oblong entrance.
- Clutch
- 3–5 eggs
- Incubation
- 15–18 days
- Young
- Fledge at about 4 weeks
- Broods
- 1 per year
Behavior
Pairs stay on their territory year-round. Its digging can break small trees in half.
Conservation
Common and increasing as forests mature.
Cool facts
- Its rectangular feeding holes can be over a foot long.
- Many animals, from ducks to bats, use its old holes.
- It's the largest woodpecker in North America (aside from the probably extinct Ivory-billed).
Songs & calls
▶Bird sounds video coming soon
Watch the Pileated Woodpecker
▶Video coming soon
