Appearance: A large bird about 19″ in length. They’re mostly black with white stripes on their face and neck with white underwings. The flaming red triangle-shaped crest is unmistakable and the male also has a red stripe on his cheek. The female is the same except her crest does not go all the way to her bill. And, she does not have a red stripe on her cheek.
Winter diet: Insects that they drive out of hibernation from beneath the tree bark – especially carpenter ants.
Winter feeder food: Suet, shelled peanuts, safflower seed, sunflower seed.
Winter habitat: Pileated woodpeckers spend winters in their year-round along the Pacific Northwest coast, the eastern half of the US, and Canada. You can find them in forested and wooded areas that offer tall deciduous (leafy trees like maple & beech), coniferous trees (like evergreen & pine), and lower fruit & nut-bearing trees & shrubs.
Range Map
