Animal
Pileated woodpecker
The pileated woodpecker is a big black and white bird with a bright red crest. It chips holes in old trees to find ants.
The pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America that is still alive today, nearly as big as a crow, with a flaming red crest. It chisels big rectangular holes in dead trees to reach carpenter ants, and the nest holes it carves later shelter owls, ducks, bats and other animals.
Dryocopus pileatus (placed in the genus Hylatomus by the IUCN) is North America's largest living woodpecker. It specializes on carpenter ants dug from dead wood, excavates a new nest cavity most years and so supplies shelter for many other cavity users; once reduced by forest clearing, it has come back as eastern forests regrew.
Photo: Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the pileated woodpecker
The pileated woodpecker is a big bird.
It is black with white stripes on its face and neck. It has a bright red crest on top of its head, like a flame.
The pileated woodpecker is one of the biggest and most striking forest birds in North America: 40 to 49 centimeters long, nearly the size of a crow. Audubon calls it the largest woodpecker still living on the continent.
It is mostly black, with white stripes on its face and neck and a flaming red crest. Males also have a red stripe on each cheek; on females that stripe is black. In flight, big white patches show under its wings.
Dryocopus pileatus is 40 to 49 centimeters long, with a wingspan of 66 to 75 centimeters and a mass of 250 to 350 grams (Cornell). Audubon describes it as the largest extant woodpecker in North America. The IUCN Red List now places it in the genus Hylatomus.
Plumage is mostly black with white stripes on the face and neck and a red crest. The sexes differ in the face: males have a red forehead and a red malar (mustache) stripe, females a black one. In flight the bird shows extensive white underwings and small white crescents at the bases of the primaries, and its slightly undulating flight separates it from a crow's straight path.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Length
- 0.4 to 0.49 m
- Wingspan
- 0.66 to 0.75 m
- Weight
- 0.25 to 0.35 kg
Where it lives
Pileated woodpeckers live in Canada and the United States.
They live in forests with big old trees. Some live in parks and backyards with lots of trees.
Pileated woodpeckers live in Canada and the United States, all year round. They need forests with big dead trees and fallen logs, and they live in many kinds: tall hemlock forests in the Northwest, beech and maple woods in New England and cypress swamps in the Southeast.
In the East they also live in younger forests and even in leafy suburbs and backyards, as long as some large trees are left.
IUCN's 2025 global assessment lists the species as resident in Canada and the United States. Cornell describes mature deciduous or mixed forest of nearly every type, from western hemlock stands of the Northwest to New England beech-maple forest and southeastern cypress swamps; Audubon adds coniferous forest and old-growth Douglas-fir.
The key requirement is large standing dead trees and downed wood. Western birds tend to use older forest, while in the East they also use younger forest with scattered large dead trees, partly wooded suburbs and city-edge parks. Audubon notes that individuals sometimes wander far from breeding areas, though the species is a permanent resident.
Continent
Its habitat
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Forests with large dead trees in Canada and the United States, from the conifers of the Northwest to eastern hardwoods and southeastern swamps, including wooded suburbs. Pairs stay on their territory all year.
Places: Canada and United States.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Bahamas, China, Costa Rica and 2 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Ant hunters
Pileated woodpeckers love to eat ants.
They chip big holes in old wood to find them. They eat berries and nuts too.
The pileated woodpecker's favorite food is carpenter ants, which tunnel inside dead wood. The woodpecker follows their tunnels by chiseling rectangular holes that can be 30 centimeters or more long. It also eats beetle grubs, termites and other insects, plus wild fruits, berries and nuts.
Its holes can be so big and deep that small trees break in half. Other birds often come to feed in them afterwards.
Carpenter ants are the primary food, supplemented by other ants, wood-boring beetle larvae, termites and other insects, plus wild fruits and nuts such as blackberries, sumac, holly, dogwood and persimmon. Cornell reports ants made up 40 percent of the diet in some studies and up to 97 percent in some individuals; Audubon gives carpenter ants as up to 60 percent and fruits and nuts as about a quarter.
Feeding excavations are rectangular, can be a foot or more long and go deep into the wood following the ants' galleries; they can be broad enough to break small trees and often attract other woodpeckers and house wrens. A long, barbed tongue extracts beetle larvae and termites from deep inside.
Did you know?
One pileated woodpecker lived to almost 13 years old.
The oldest known pileated woodpecker was a male at least 12 years and 11 months old.
The longevity record is a male at least 12 years 11 months old, recaptured and released during banding in Maryland.
A living chisel
A woodpecker's beak is like a strong chisel.
It pulls its head far back, then hits the wood hard. Its long tongue reaches bugs deep inside.
To dig, a pileated woodpecker pulls its long neck far back from the tree, then strikes hard with its heavy bill, pulling with its feet to make each blow stronger. You can often hear a heavy thunk, and big wood chips pile up on the ground below.
Once it reaches the insects, it uses a long tongue with tiny barbs on the end to pull out beetle grubs and termites.
Cornell describes the excavating technique: the bird draws its long neck far back, then delivers powerful strikes with its heavy bill while pulling with its feet to increase the force. The result is an audible heavy thunk and a scatter of large chips beneath the tree.
The long, barbed tongue extracts wood-boring beetle larvae, which can be more than an inch (2.5 centimeters) long, and termites from deep in the wood. The bird also drums on dead trees in a deep, slow, rolling pattern, and its calls are loud and whinnying; Audubon describes a flicker-like cuk-cuk-cuk that rises and then falls.
Growing up in a tree hole
Pileated woodpeckers make their nest inside a hole in a tree.
Dad does most of the digging. The eggs are white. Mom and Dad both feed the babies.
Each year a pair usually carves a brand-new nest hole in a dead tree. The male does most of the work, which takes three to six weeks. The hole goes 25 to 61 centimeters deep, its entrance is oval instead of round, and the only bedding is leftover wood chips.
The female lays three to five white eggs. They hatch after 15 to 18 days, and the chicks are naked and helpless. Both parents feed them, and the young leave the nest after about four weeks.
The male begins the cavity and does most of the excavation, with the female helping as it nears completion; construction takes 3 to 6 weeks, cavities are 10 to 24 inches (25 to 61 centimeters) deep with an oblong entrance, and the only lining is wood chips. Nests are rarely reused, and Audubon says a new cavity is generally made each year, usually 15 to 80 feet up.
Clutches are 3 to 5 white eggs, one brood a year. Cornell gives incubation as 15 to 18 days and the nestling period as 24 to 31 days; Audubon says both sexes incubate, the male at night, and that young may stay with their parents for 2 to 3 months. The oldest known bird was a male at least 12 years 11 months old, recaptured in Maryland.
Partners and neighbors
A pair of pileated woodpeckers stays together all year.
They drum on trees with their beaks. Old woodpecker holes make cozy homes for owls and bats.
A pair of pileated woodpeckers lives on its territory all year and defends it in every season. They drum on dead trees in a deep, slow roll and call with loud, wild-sounding whinnies.
Their old holes are important to many neighbors. Swifts, owls, ducks, bats and pine martens all use pileated woodpecker holes for shelter. Cornell calls these holes crucial shelter for many species.
Pairs are monogamous, hold large territories and stay on them all year; Cornell notes they will tolerate newcomers in winter, and that when one partner dies the survivor often gains a new mate, one of the main ways new birds get a chance to breed and hold a territory. It is rare to see more than two together. Courtship includes wing-spreading to show the white patches, crest-raising, head-swinging and gliding display flights (Audubon).
Because pairs dig a new cavity most years, old holes become shelter for swifts, owls, ducks, bats and pine martens, and pileated woodpeckers compete for cavities with wood ducks, European starlings, other woodpeckers, eastern bluebirds and great crested flycatchers.
Did you know?
Pileated woodpecker holes can be so big that small trees break.
Pileated woodpeckers dig such broad, deep feeding holes that small trees can break in half.
Cornell notes that the rectangular feeding excavations can be extensive enough to snap small trees.
A forest comeback
There are lots of pileated woodpeckers.
Long ago, many forests were cut down and they became rare. Now the forests have grown back, and so have the woodpeckers.
Pileated woodpeckers are fairly common, and the IUCN Red List rates them Least Concern. Partners in Flight estimated in 2020 that about 2.6 million breed.
It was not always so. Audubon says they became rare in the eastern United States in the 1700s and 1800s, when forests were cleared. As forests grew back, the woodpeckers returned. Leaving dead trees standing and fallen logs in place gives them food and nest sites.
IUCN's 2025 global assessment (as Hylatomus pileatus) lists the species as Least Concern with an increasing trend and about 2,600,000 mature individuals, matching Partners in Flight's 2020 global breeding estimate of 2.6 million; its Continental Concern Score is 7 out of 20. The North American Breeding Bird Survey shows a steady increase from 1966 to 2019.
Audubon records a sharp decline in the eastern United States in the 18th and 19th centuries as forests were cleared and a gradual comeback since about 1900. Cornell stresses keeping large standing dead trees and fallen logs, which managers may see as untidy, because they provide insect food and cavities for many birds and mammals.
Did you know?
The only bed in a woodpecker nest is wood chips.
Pileated woodpeckers do not line their nests with grass or feathers. The eggs sit on leftover wood chips.
Nest cavities, 25 to 61 centimeters deep, are lined only with wood chips left over from excavation.
Amazing facts
-
Pileated woodpecker holes can be so big that small trees break.
Pileated woodpeckers dig such broad, deep feeding holes that small trees can break in half.
Cornell notes that the rectangular feeding excavations can be extensive enough to snap small trees.
-
Owls, ducks and bats can live in old woodpecker holes.
Swifts, owls, ducks, bats and pine martens all shelter in holes that pileated woodpeckers made.
Because pairs excavate new cavities and rarely reuse them, their old holes become shelter for swifts, owls, ducks, bats and pine martens.
-
The only bed in a woodpecker nest is wood chips.
Pileated woodpeckers do not line their nests with grass or feathers. The eggs sit on leftover wood chips.
Nest cavities, 25 to 61 centimeters deep, are lined only with wood chips left over from excavation.
-
One pileated woodpecker lived to almost 13 years old.
The oldest known pileated woodpecker was a male at least 12 years and 11 months old.
The longevity record is a male at least 12 years 11 months old, recaptured and released during banding in Maryland.
Words to know
- crest
- a tuft of feathers on top of a bird's head
- cavity
- a hole or hollow space, such as a nest hole in a tree
- excavate
- to dig out a hole
- carpenter ant
- a large ant that tunnels into wood to make its nest
- snag
- a dead tree that is still standing
- drumming
- fast tapping on wood that a woodpecker uses as a signal
Discovery challenge
-
What is a pileated woodpecker's favorite food?
What is the pileated woodpecker's main food?
Which prey does Cornell name as the pileated woodpecker's primary food?
- Carpenter ants
- Fish
- Grass seeds
Show the answer
Carpenter ants
It loves carpenter ants that live in old wood.
Carpenter ants are its main food; it digs them out of dead trees.
Carpenter ants are the primary food; ants reached 40 percent of the diet in some studies and up to 97 percent in some individuals.
-
What shape are the holes it digs to find ants?
What shape are a pileated woodpecker's feeding holes?
Which shape of feeding excavation is characteristic of this species?
- Star-shaped
- Rectangular
- Heart-shaped
Show the answer
Rectangular
The holes are long rectangles, like a box.
It chisels rectangular holes that can be 30 centimeters or more long.
Rectangular excavations, a foot or more long, follow carpenter-ant galleries deep into the wood.
-
Who can live in an old woodpecker hole?
Which animals use old pileated woodpecker holes for shelter?
Which group of animals is reported using abandoned pileated woodpecker cavities?
- Owls, ducks and bats
- Fish and crabs
- Nobody ever uses them
Show the answer
Owls, ducks and bats
Owls, ducks and bats can make homes in old woodpecker holes.
Swifts, owls, ducks, bats and pine martens all shelter in them.
Cornell lists swifts, owls, ducks, bats and pine martens among the users of these cavities.
-
What helps a woodpecker pull bugs out of wood?
What does a pileated woodpecker use to pull grubs out of deep holes?
Which structure extracts beetle larvae and termites from deep in the wood?
- Its wings
- Its tail
- A long tongue with barbs
Show the answer
A long tongue with barbs
Its long tongue reaches in and pulls the bugs out.
A long tongue with tiny barbs pulls out beetle grubs and termites.
A long, barbed tongue extracts wood-boring beetle larvae and termites.
Places where you might see it
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Describe the pileated woodpecker and how to tell males from females.
- Explain how the woodpecker finds and digs out carpenter ants.
- Explain why old woodpecker holes and dead trees matter to other animals.
- Describe how the species declined and recovered as forests were cleared and regrew.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might dead trees be important in a healthy forest?
- How is a woodpecker's bill like a tool you know?
- What animals might move into a woodpecker's hole after the woodpeckers leave?
Try at home or in class
- Go on a walk in a wood or park and look for dead trees and logs with holes; sketch the shapes you find and talk about who made them.
- Cut a strip of paper 75 centimeters long to show how wide a pileated woodpecker's wings stretch.
Key vocabulary: crest, cavity, excavate, carpenter ant, snag, drumming
Where these facts come from
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Hylatomus pileatus (Pileated Woodpecker), Red List assessment 2025 , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Pileated Woodpecker overview , Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
- Pileated Woodpecker life history , Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
- Pileated Woodpecker identification , Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
- Pileated Woodpecker , National Audubon Society, Guide to North American Birds
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 24, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.