Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Adult male
- Very large woodpecker with thick, chisel-like bill
- Bright red crest
- Solid black back and underparts
- Black stripe through eye
- © Marcus Sharpe, FL, Winter Park, October 2009
Pileated Woodpecker
Adult female
- Very large woodpecker with solid black back
- Bright red crest
- Female has dusky gray forehead and mustache stripes
- White on sides of neck
- © Dan Lockard, MI, Wolf Lake, March 2011
Pileated Woodpecker
Adult 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
Pileated Woodpecker
Adult female
- Very large, black-backed woodpecker
- Black stripes on white face (male show red on mustache stripe)
- Bright red bushy crest
- White patch usually visible on folded wings
- © Steven Wildman, FL, Loxahatchee, Boynton Beach, April 2010
Pileated Woodpecker
Adult male
- Very large, black-backed woodpecker
- Bright red crest
- White on sides of neck
- Occasionally shows faint white barring on black breast
- © Reid Barclay, AB, Calgary, December 2007
Pileated Woodpecker
Adult 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 and forehead
- © Maureen H-May Bisson/PFW, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, March 2009
Pileated Woodpecker
Adult male with young
- Very large, black-backed woodpecker
- Heavy, chisel-like bill
- Bright red crest
- White and black striped pattern on neck
- © Aida Villaronga, FL, Everglades NP, May 2009
Pileated Woodpecker
Adult
- Very large woodpecker
- Distinctive in flight with white patches on broad, black wings
- Long tail
- Heavy, chisel-like bill
- © Wayne Bierbaum, MD, March 2011
Similar Species
Adult
- Much smaller than Pileated Woodpecker
- Solid red head with no crest
- Bright white underparts
- © Jay Paredes, J.W. Corbett WMA, Northwestern Palm Beach County, FL, June 2010
Adult
- Can be confused in flight with Pileated Woodpecker
- Solid black
- No crest
- © Doug Caldwell, St. Paul, MN, December 2011