Most birders can easily remember their first sighting of a pileated woodpecker, especially due to their large size and distinctive markings; for me, this occurred along a country road near Wilmington, North Carolina. Though these woodpeckers are fairly common throughout much of their range, they prefer mature forests and are not often seen by the casual suburban birdwatcher.
Pileated woodpeckers inhabit forested areas of the eastern U.S., southern Canada, the Northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest; other than the rare and possibly extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker of southeastern swamp forests, pileateds are the largest woodpeckers in North America. Adult pairs are monogamous and may remain together for a decade or more. Each spring, the pair excavates a new, oval-shaped tree cavity in which to raise their brood of 3-5 young; both parents incubate the eggs and, once fledged, the offspring will remain with their parents until autumn. The male often uses the nest cavity through the following winter and, once abandoned, it provides shelter for owls, songbirds and a variety of small mammals.
Crow sized, pileated woodpeckers are easily recognized by their bright red crest, white facial markings and white wing patches; their loud, hysterical call or slow, resonant drumming often call attention to their presence. Feasting on beetles, larvae and carpenter ants, they strip sections of bark from dying trees or scour stumps and fallen logs for their prey; in winter, pileated woodpeckers also feed on nuts and berries.
