Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

Return to Eastern Woodpeckers

Color Photograph: Copyright Corel Corp.

Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Extinct)

Campephilus principalis

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 17-18 inches. The largest North American woodpecker. Head white with a large, red, triangular crest at the rear margin of the head. A black band runs from the eye to the rear margin of the crest and a red stripe is present at the base of the bill. Most of body black with small white patches on the wings.

Similar Species: Its large size, black body, and red, triangular crest easily separate this species from all other North American woodpeckers.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Pileated Woodpecker is resident throughout the eastern United States and southeastern Canada. The species is absent from the prairie states and southern prairie provinces, but occurs in the coniferous forest zones of Canada and southward in the west to parts of the Rocky Mountains and into California.

Overwintering Range:  See above.

Habitat: The Pileated Woodpecker was originally found mostly in mature forest. However the species has become more acclimated to the presence of humans and is now commonly found in suburban areas.

Food: Insects.

Behavior: The Pileated Woodpecker, in common with many other woodpeckers, makes its living pecking open tree tunks and limbs searching for woodboring insects. The bird is typically shy and hard to observe even though it is rapidly becoming a fairly common resident of suburban areas. The voice is a loud cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk that rises and falls in both loudness and pitch.

Reproduction:  The clutch consists of 4 white eggs. The eggs are layed in a rectangular tree cavity.

Note: The Pileated Woodpecker resembles the extinct North American Ivory-billed Woodpecker. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker had extensive white patches on its wings. The Pileated Woodpecker was the inspiration for the cartoon character "Woody Woodpecker".