Dryocopus pileatus
With its powerful bill and stubborn determination, the Pileated Woodpecker chisels out rectangular cavities in its unending search for grubs and ants. The telltale cavities are often the only evidence that a Pileated Woodpecker is in a forest community. A pair of breeding Pileated Woodpeckers generally requires more than 100 acres (40 ha) of mature forest to settle. Not surprisingly, a woodpecker's bill becomes shorter as the bird ages. In Audubon's historic painting of the Pileated Woodpecker, he correctly depicted the bills of the juveniles as slightly longer than those of their parents. There's no real consensus on whether this bird's name is pronounced 'pie-lee-ated' or 'pill-e-ated'-it's generally a matter of preference. |
I.D.: General: predominantly black; white wing linings; flaming red crest; yellow eyes; stout, dark bill; white stripe running from the bill to the shoulder; white chin. Male: red 'mustache'; crest extends from the forehead. Female: no 'mustache'; crest starts on the crown. Size: L 16-19 in. (41-48 cm). Range: uncommon year-round resident in the Canadian Rockies; increasingly uncommon south through Yellowstone NP. Habitat: mature coniferous or mixedwood forests in the montane; prefers areas with dead and dying trees. Nesting: pair excavates a cavity in a dead or dying tree trunk; excavation can take 3-6 weeks; lines the cavity with wood chips; pair incubates 4 eggs for 15-18 days. Feeding: often hammers the base of rotting trees, creating fist-sized rectangular holes; eats carpenter ants, wood-boring beetle larvae, berries and nuts. Voice: loud, fast, laughing, rolling yucka-yucka-yucka-yucka that carries great distances through the woods. Similar Species: American Crow: lacks the white underwings and the flaming red crest. Other woodpeckers: much smaller. |
