Pileated Woodpecker

Bird Graphic

Pileated Woodpecker -
(Dryocopus pileatus)

Audio

Identification

Large, crow-sized woodpecker
Black body with white stripe down
side of neck
Large white underwing area
Black and white head with prominent
red crest
Red on crest extends down to beak on male
16.5" (42 cm.)

Habitat

Deciduous and mixed mature forest

Additional Information

Uncommon resident
Largest woodpecker in Wisconsin
Needs old growth conditions; food
source is in old or decaying wood
Gives loud ringing series of "wuck" calls
Excavates large rectangular holes,
searching for carpenter ants
Nest hole is smaller and round

Pileated Woodpecker at characteristic rectangular hole

Pileated Woodpecker on tree trunk

The Kickapoo Reserve Management Board acknowledges that the state and federal lands that comprise the Reserve fall within the ancestral homelands of First Nations people including the Hooçak Nation. We recognize the sovereignty of the Hooçak and other First Nations and will work towards a shared future by continuing to create collaborative opportunities to protect and preserve these lands.

Kickapoo Valley Reserve | S3661 State Highway 131 | La Farge, Wisconsin 54639
Phone: 608-625-2960 | FAX: 608-625-2962
kickapoo.reserve@krm.state.wi.us