Pileated Woodpecker

Dryocopus pileatus

Classification

Conservation Status

  • 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.