Here in the Northeast, we are blessed with an abundance of diverse wildlife. Lots of folks like to go birding and to feed the birds. People enjoy seeing the different species that come to their feeders and own books to help identify them. These days, as we continue to integrate technology into our lives (perhaps over-integrate, I’m not exactly sure that I need a “smart” waffle iron hooked into WiFi) folks look up birds on the Internet to help identify them. There are probably even apps for a smartphone that will identify a bird if you take a picture of it.

Some of my favorite birds are the woodpeckers. I put suet out on my rose trellis for them. They come in many shapes and sizes. Today I would like to talk about our largest one, the Pileated. Common here in the deciduous forests of New York and Pennsylvania, their range is quite extensive in North America. I’m happy to report that unlike many of the wildlife that I write about, their numbers are actually increasing and they are listed as a species of least concern.

While they are the largest woodpeckers in the U.S., they only rank third biggest worldwide. The Black Woodpecker and the Great Slaty Woodpecker have them beat. Pileateds are crow-sized and stand about 16 to 19 inches tall with a wingspan that can reach 30 inches but is usually about 26.

When first described and classified around 1729 by Mark Catesby, they were called “The Larger Red-crested Wood-pecker”. It wasn’t until 1758 when the name became Pileated (from the Latin word pileatus, meaning “capped”).

There are actually two subspecies, with the Northern Pileated found here and in Canada, and, as you probably already surmised, the Southern Pileated in the southeastern U.S. The two subspecies were distinguished in 1898.

Woodpeckers are primarily insectivores and eat bugs and their larva that live in trees. The Pileated is famous for making holes that are rectangular in shape with rounded corners, unlike our other woodpeckers that make round holes. The shape of these carvings in the trees helps us to easily identify the handiwork of these shy birds.Males are slightly larger than females and like so many species, the Pileated woodpecker follows Bergmann’s Rule in that birds living in the North are larger than the ones in the South. The two subspecies have slightly different coloration.Pairs of Pileated woodpeckers tend to mate for life.

They usually make their own nests in dead trees with the male excavating a proper size hole and leaving some wood chips in it to line it. They build new nests every Spring. Many other birds and animals will subsequently use these abandoned sites to raise their own young.The females lay 3 to 5 eggs which are incubated for 12 to 16 days before the chicks hatch. Once the brood is raised they abandon the nest. The survival rate for the chicks is quite good, although predators do take their toll. As I mentioned earlier, Pileated woodpeckers are increasing in number with an estimated 2.6 million population in North America.

Let’s all enjoy the outdoors!