How to Identify aPileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus · 15.8–19.3 in (40–49 cm)
Male vs. female
Male
Black body, white neck stripes, a tall triangular red crest, and a red mustache stripe.
Female
Like the male but with a black forehead and no red mustache.
Male photo: Joshlaymon / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Second photo: Paul Danese / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Field marks
- Crow-sized, all-black with a red crest
- White stripes down the neck
- Big white underwing patches in flight
- Carves large rectangular holes in trunks
Similar species
What it sounds like
A loud, ringing, irregular "kuk-kuk-kuk" that rises and falls, plus deep resonant drumming.
Behaviour that gives it away
Chisels distinctive rectangular holes into dead wood, large enough to put a hand into.
Habitat & range
Mature forests and wooded suburbs with big dead trees across the eastern U.S., Pacific Northwest, and Canada.
When you'll see it
Present all year in eastern, western and northern North America.
What it eats
Carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae, plus fruit and nuts.
Did you know?
Their huge rectangular excavations create shelter later used by owls, ducks, and other wildlife.
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