Pileated Woodpecker

Overview
Pileated Woodpecker: Large woodpecker with mostly black body and white wing linings which are visible in flight. The head has a prominent red crest and cap, white face and neck stripes and a red moustache stripe, and large gray bill. Legs and feet are gray. The largest woodpecker in North America.

Range and Habitat
Pileated Woodpecker: Resident from British Columbia east across southern Canada to Nova Scotia, and south to northern California, southern Idaho, eastern North Dakota, central Texas, and Florida. Found in mature forests and borders.

The Pileated Woodpecker has an enormous range extending roughly 5,900,000 square kilometers. This bird can be found in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It prefers a forest habitat and can be found in subtropical and tropical forests, wetlands and even rural gardens and urban areas. The global population of this species is estimated to be around 930,000 individual birds. It is not believed that the population trends for this species will soon approach the minimum levels that could suggest a potential decline in population. Due to this, population trends for the Pileated Woodpecker have a present evaluation level of Least Concern.

INTERESTING FACTS
Pileated Woodpeckers "drum" on hollow trees with their bills in order to claim territory. They dig rectangular holes in trees to find ants. These excavations can be so broad and deep that they can cause small trees to break in half. They will make up to 16 holes in each tree to allow escape routes should a predator enter the tree. They peck the bark around the entrance holes to make the sap run from the tree. This will keep some predators, such as snakes, from entering. A group of pileated woodpeckers are collectively known as a "crown" of woodpeckers.