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Pileated Woodpecker

 
Pileated Woodpecker

 
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Pileated Woodpecker
 
 
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The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a very large North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n woodpecker
Woodpecker

Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks....
.

Adults (40-49 cm long, 250-350 g weight) are mainly black with a red crest and a white line down the sides of the throat. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat and red on the front of the crown. In adult females, these are black. They show white on the wings in flight. The only North American birds of similar plumage and size are the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
Ivory-billed Woodpecker

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is a very large member of the family Picidae. It was considered extinct for many years until a series of possible sightings beginning in 1999....
 of the Southeastern United States
Southeastern United States

The US Southeast is the eastern portion of the Southern United States, but the Census Bureau does not provide a standard definition of a "Southeast" region of the United States, and organizations that need to subdivide the US are free to define a "Southeast" region to fit their needs....
 and Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
, and the related Imperial Woodpecker
Imperial Woodpecker

The Imperial Woodpecker is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. Due to its close relationship and similarity to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, it is sometimes also called "Mexican Ivorybill" but this name is also used for the Pale-billed Woodpecker....
 of Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
.






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Encyclopedia


The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a very large North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n woodpecker
Woodpecker

Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks....
.

Adults (40-49 cm long, 250-350 g weight) are mainly black with a red crest and a white line down the sides of the throat. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat and red on the front of the crown. In adult females, these are black. They show white on the wings in flight. The only North American birds of similar plumage and size are the Ivory-billed Woodpecker
Ivory-billed Woodpecker

The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is a very large member of the family Picidae. It was considered extinct for many years until a series of possible sightings beginning in 1999....
 of the Southeastern United States
Southeastern United States

The US Southeast is the eastern portion of the Southern United States, but the Census Bureau does not provide a standard definition of a "Southeast" region of the United States, and organizations that need to subdivide the US are free to define a "Southeast" region to fit their needs....
 and Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
, and the related Imperial Woodpecker
Imperial Woodpecker

The Imperial Woodpecker is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae. Due to its close relationship and similarity to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, it is sometimes also called "Mexican Ivorybill" but this name is also used for the Pale-billed Woodpecker....
 of Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. Both of those species are extremely rare, if not extinct
Extinct birds

Since 1500, over 190 species of birds have become extinct, and this rate of extinction seems to be increasing. The situation is exemplified by Hawaii, where 30% of all known recently extinct bird taxa originally lived....
.

Their breeding habitat is forested areas with large trees across Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, the eastern United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 and parts of the Pacific coast. They usually excavate large nests in the cavities of dead trees, and often excavates a new home each year, creating habitat for other large cavity nesters.

This bird is usually a permanent resident.

These birds mainly eat insects (especially beetle
Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
 larvae and carpenter ant
Carpenter ant

Carpenter ants are large ants Indigenous to many parts of the world. They prefer dead, damp wood in which to build nests. Sometimes carpenter ants will hollow out sections of trees....
s) as well as fruits, berries and nuts. They often chip out large and roughly rectangular holes in trees while searching out insects.

The call is a wild laugh, similar to the Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker

The Northern Flicker is a medium-sized member of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, is one of the few woodpecker species that migrates, and is the only woodpecker that commonly feeds on the ground....
. Its drumming can be very loud, often sounding like someone striking a tree with a hammer
Hammer

A hammer is a tool meant to deliver an impact to an object. The most common uses are for driving Nail s, fitting parts, and breaking up objects....
. This bird favors mature forests, but has adapted to use second-growth stands and heavily wooded parks as well.

Miscellaneous facts

  • The Pileated Woodpecker was the model for the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker
    Woody Woodpecker

    Woody Woodpecker is an animation fictional character, an anthropomorphic woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio animation studio and distributed by Universal Studios....
    .
  • The pileated woodpecker is also commonly known in the south as an "Indian Hen"
    or "Rain crow"
  • The roost of a Pileated Woodpecker usually has multiple entrance holes.
  • The sound that a Pileated Woodpecker makes when boring a hole in a tree is so loud that it can be heard over long distances.
  • Pileated Woodpeckers make such large holes in dead trees that sometimes the holes can cause a small tree to break in half.
  • Pileated Woodpeckers have been observed to move their eggs which have fallen off the nest to another site. This is a rare habit in other birds.





Photos


External links

  • on the Internet Bird Collection