Pileated Woodpecker

The Pileated Woodpecker is a spectacular, crow-sized woodpecker and the largest widely distributed woodpecker species in North America. It is mostly black with bold white stripes down the neck and a flashing white underwing visible in flight, topped by a tall, flaming red crest that gives the species its name.

Males show a red mustache stripe and a red forehead extending to the crest, while females have a black forehead and lack the red mustache, showing only the crest in red. The powerful, chisel-shaped bill is used to excavate large, deep, rectangular holes in dead and dying trees in pursuit of carpenter ants.

Once feared to be declining toward the fate of the extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker populations have rebounded strongly across much of eastern and parts of western North America as forests have matured, and their large rectangular excavations are a familiar and dramatic sign of their presence in mature woodland.

Key Field Marks

• Very large size, roughly crow-sized, the largest common North American woodpecker
• Mostly black body with white neck stripes and white underwing linings visible in flight
• Tall, pointed, flaming red crest
• Males have a red mustache stripe and red extends to the forehead; females have a black forehead and no red mustache
• Large, distinctive rectangular excavation holes in dead wood

Similar Species

• Northern Flicker is smaller and brown with black barring, lacking the Pileated's solid black body and prominent crest.
• The (functionally extinct) Ivory-billed Woodpecker is larger still with more extensive white on the wings and back and a different bill color, but essentially unrecordable in modern times; virtually all large crested black woodpeckers seen today are Pileated Woodpeckers.

Pileated Woodpeckers inhabit mature deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests across much of eastern North America, the Pacific Northwest, and parts of the boreal forest of Canada, favoring stands with large trees and abundant dead or dying wood for foraging and nesting. They have adapted well to wooded suburban and park settings with sufficiently large trees.

This species is non-migratory, maintaining large permanent territories year-round.

Behavior

Pileated Woodpeckers are powerful, often solitary or paired foragers, excavating large rectangular holes into dead wood in search of carpenter ants, sometimes producing piles of wood chips at the base of a tree. Their flight is strong and undulating, with slow, deep wingbeats.

Voice

The call is a loud, ringing series of ascending or wild-sounding "kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk" notes, often likened to the classic "jungle bird" sound used in film soundtracks. Both sexes also produce loud, resonant drumming.

Feeding

Carpenter ants are the primary prey, extracted from deep within dead and decaying wood using the powerful bill and long, barbed tongue; the diet also includes other wood-boring insects, wild fruit, and nuts.

Nesting & Breeding

Both parents excavate a large nest cavity in a dead tree, a process that can take several weeks, and lay 3-5 eggs. Abandoned Pileated Woodpecker cavities are ecologically important, later used by many other species including owls, ducks, and mammals. Pairs often mate for life and defend large territories.