Pileated Woodpecker

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Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpeckers are found throughout eastern North America south of the boreal forest and east and north of the open prairies and arid Southwest. They are also found in the Pacific Northwest and Prairie provinces of Canada. They are most abundant along the major river valleys and in the coastal plain. Populations experienced a marked decline at around the 1900s in the Northeast, especially in New England and New York, when forests were cleared for farming. In the 1920s they began to reappear, perhaps due in part to an increased adaptation to second growth habitats and human presence. The spread of Dutch elm disease in the mid-twentieth century provided increased nesting sites and arthropod prey as well.
Pileated Woodpecker Range Map

Territories may be as large as 150 or 200 acres, with the availability of suitable large nesting and roosting trees being a critical factor in determining territory size. Both deciduous and coniferous forests are used. Streamside forests are especially favored because the humid environment promotes decay and insect populations, and because such linear habitats provide corridors for travel between forest fragments. In the South Pileated Woodpeckers are common in cypress swamps and in general seem to occur more frequently in suburban areas and parks than they do in the North. Densities of Pileated Woodpeckers are positively correlated with increasing area of old growth bottomland forests, increasing canopy closure and presence of large snags at least 15 inches in diameter.

Mated pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers stay together in a shared territory throughout the year. They will return to the same area, and often the same tree, each year, but a new nest cavity is usually excavated each season. A number of other cavities are excavated for roosting purposes. A nesting hole often has a roughly triangular opening about 3 1/2 inches across and is 10 to 24 inches deep. Broken stubs of trees hidden with groves of live trees are often used and the nest site can be between 15 and 80 feet up. Eggs are usually laid in March in the southern parts of the range and in May in the North. Both parents incubate, with the male staying in the nest overnight while the female roosts nearby. The naked and blind hatchlings are fed regurgitated food by both parents. After 9 or 10 days the eyes open, and the feather sheaths begin to open. At 15 days the young are able to peer out of the nest hole and herald the approach of their parents with soft "churring" calls. They leave the nest at about 27 days and stay with their parents through the summer.

Pileated Woodpeckers are primarily insectivorous, but they do eat a variety of vegetable foods such as acorns, beechnuts, grapes, cherries, and the berries of dogwood, Ilex, poison ivy, sumac, Nyssa, hackberry and others. Ants, especially large carpenter ants, and beetles are the primary insect foods. Pileated Woodpeckers spend much time on the ground tearing apart rotten logs for the ants and beetles within, and occasionally destroy anthills. On rare occasions, they can be attracted with a suet feeder during the winter months.

The drumming and voice of Pileated Woodpeckers are distinctive. The drumming is loud and lower pitched than most other woodpeckers, becoming softer at the finish of the roll. Unmated males drum at a faster pace than mated ones. A typical call sounds much like that of the flicker, but is louder and often drops in pitch at the end. Both drumming and calling increase during the nesting season.

Description: Pileated Woodpeckers are the largest North American Woodpeckers. They are crow sized (16 to 19 1/2 inches long) with long tails and necks. Both sexes have red crests that are raised when alarmed or excited. The red on the crest of the male extends from the base of the bill to the rear of the head; only the rear half of the female's crest is scarlet. When perched, Pileated Woodpeckers appear almost entirely black, except for the crest, a white supercilium and throat, and a white stripe extending from the beak to the flank. Males have a red moustache spot. Flight is usually level and direct, only occasionally undulating in typical woodpecker fashion. A large white patch covering the front two-thirds of the wing is visible from below and from above a much smaller white patch at the base of the primaries is visible.

The large rectangular holes excavated by Pileated Woodpeckers are most often made in the winter. They may be several inches wide and up to a foot long, and reach to the heart of ant-infested trees. The woodpecker licks up carpenter ants from the cold and dormant colonies with its long brushy tongue.

Visit Shaw Creek Bird Supply to see our selection of Pileated Woodpecker Feeders.