--- title: "Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A crow-sized woodpecker that chisels rectangular holes into trees to reach the ants inside." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/pileated-woodpecker-1.webp" published: "2026-10-11" updated: "2026-10-11" --- # Pileated Woodpecker (*Dryocopus pileatus*) > **Status**: Checked against 7 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A crow-sized woodpecker that chisels rectangular holes into trees to reach the ants inside. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Classic Funk, Soul & Disco // Sheila E., "The Glamorous Life" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/179SfVFJ0ZN41toTxnpgRD) > **Vibe Match**: A pileated woodpecker usually drums on a dead, resonant tree to proclaim its territory, most often in the morning. Sheila E. is a drummer and percussionist first, and The Glamorous Life runs on her percussion from start to finish. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Dryocopus pileatus* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2025-2.rlts.t22681363a140984457.en)) - **Superpower**: A barbed, sticky, stretchy tongue that hauls ants out of tunnels inside wood - **Habitat**: Deciduous and coniferous forests across southern Canada and the eastern, midwestern and western United States, resident year-round - **Diet**: Carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae, plus wild fruits and nuts - **Tags**: bird, insectivore, forest ## Natural History & Behavior ## A Chisel With Feathers The pileated woodpecker digs for dinner. Its bill is chisel-shaped, and it pries off long slivers of wood to open up the tunnels where ants live. In one study of coastal forests in Washington State, carpenter ants made up more than half of what these birds ate, with beetle larvae and termites filling in during the breeding season. > **Built-in ant spear** > Its tongue is long, stretchy and pointed, with barbs and sticky saliva that snag ants out of their tunnels. The holes it digs are big and rectangular, and they can be large enough to weaken a smaller tree or even snap it in half. ## Crow-Sized, Zebra-Faced This is the largest woodpecker found in most of North America, with a dull black body and a red crest. Its body runs 16 to 19 inches long and its wingspan is 26 to 30 inches. It weighs 8.8 to 12.3 ounces, and an average adult is about 364 grams. Filmed fleeing, pileated woodpeckers flap rapidly just after take-off, then settle into a more relaxed level flight. ## Landlord of the Forest Pileated woodpeckers live year-round in forests across southern Canada and the eastern, midwestern and western United States, from Nova Scotia south to Florida. They prefer to nest in moist areas close to streams. A nest hole is about 8 inches wide and 2 feet deep, and those excavations provide habitat for many other species. That makes it a possible keystone species, one whose work shapes a whole community. It also announces itself. It usually drums on a dead, resonant tree, and the drumming is used to proclaim a territory. It drums most often in the morning, and more often in early spring as courtship begins. A study of 123 nests in northeastern Oregon found birds breeding at a year old, and some surviving to at least nine. The database AnAge lists a maximum recorded longevity of 13 years in the wild. Logging in the 19th and 20th centuries cut pileated numbers in eastern North America. As many of those forests have grown back in recent decades, woodpecker species have grown in number with them. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How big is a pileated woodpecker? It is about crow-sized. National Geographic lists a body 16 to 19 inches long, a wingspan of 26 to 30 inches and a weight of 8.8 to 12.3 ounces. *(Source: [National Geographic]())* ### What does a pileated woodpecker eat, and how does it catch it? Mostly insects, especially carpenter ants and the larvae of wood-boring beetles. It catches the ants with its tongue, which it can extend into their tunnels and which carries barbs and sticky saliva. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())* ### How long do pileated woodpeckers live? AnAge lists a maximum longevity of 13 years in the wild, drawn from the Bird Banding Laboratory's longevity records. *(Source: [AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database]())* ## Sources 1. [Collinson (2007). Video analysis of the escape flight of Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus: does the Ivory-billed Woodpecker Campephilus principalis persist in continental North America? BMC Biology.]() 2. [Hylatomus pileatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T22681363A140984457.]() 3. [Dryocopus pileatus (pileated woodpecker). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 4. [Pileated Woodpecker. National Geographic.]() 5. [AnAge entry for Dryocopus pileatus. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database.]() 6. [Raley & Aubry (2006). Foraging Ecology of Pileated Woodpeckers in Coastal Forests of Washington. Journal of Wildlife Management.]() 7. [Bull & Meslow (1988). Breeding biology of the pileated woodpecker—management implications. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station.]() *Published October 11, 2026. 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