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Pileated Woodpecker

Dryocopus pileatus ORDER: PICIFORMES FAMILY: PICIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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Pileated Woodpecker Photo

© Warren Greene/CLO

Nearly as large as a crow, the Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in most of North America. Its loud ringing calls and huge, rectangular excavations in dead trees announce its presence in forests across the continent.

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Appearance

Woodpeckers
Woodpeckers
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Large woodpecker.
  • Red crest on head.
  • Black body.

Immature Description

Juvenile similar to adult, but has shorter crest and brown eyes.

Range Map Help

Pileated Woodpecker Range Map
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Field MarksHelp

  • Male
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    Male
    • © Warren Greene/CLO
  • Female
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    Female
    • © Fred K. Truslow/CLO
  • Male (left), female (right)
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    Male (left), female (right)
    • Very large black woodpecker with red crest
    • White stripes on face and down neck
    • Both sexes have all-black back and red crest
    • Males have red whisker (malar) and forehead
    • © Maureen H-May Bisson/PFW, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, March 2009
  • Male
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    Male
    • Very large black woodpecker
    • Male has entirely red crest (female has dark forehead)
    • Male has red whisker (malar) stripe on face
    • © Judy Stockham/PFW, Keewatin, Ontario, Canada, February 2008

Similar Species

  • No other living North American woodpecker is large and black with a red crest.
  • The Ivory-billed Woodpecker is similar but even larger. It has a large pale white bill, a black throat, a black crown, a white line down the neck extending onto the back, and very large white patches in the wings. In flight, the trailing edge of the wing is black in Pileated Woodpecker and is white in Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
  • Calls of pileated resemble those of Northern Flicker, but are louder and more ringing.