- Pileated woodpeckers are either the largest or second-largest species of woodpecker in the United States. Only the ivory-billed woodpecker, which is possibly extinct, is larger.
- Deforestation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries reduced Pileated woodpecker habitat and populations, but late 20th and early 21st-century reforestation efforts have enabled the species to recover.
- The holes pileated woodpeckers make in trees become nests for many other species including owls, ducks, and raccoons.
- Pileated woodpeckers feast on insects in dead wood, keeping populations of carpenter ants and wood-boring beetles in balance.
