Dryocopus pileatus
Mature forest in the East, the Pacific Northwest, and parts of Canada. Large rectangular holes in dead wood.
What does a pileated woodpecker look like?
Crow-sized, black, with a red crest and a white neck stripe.
What do pileated woodpecker tracks look like?
The sign is the excavation: a deep rectangle in a dead trunk, with chips below. Not a footprint.
- Large rectangular holes in dead wood
- Piles of wood chips at the base of a tree
- Crow-sized black bird with a red crest if seen
- White stripe on the neck
- No useful ground track
What does pileated woodpecker poop look like?
Whitewash below a roost hole, which is often oval. Do not handle droppings. Several species carry parasites that stay in the soil around a latrine.
Where you find it
Mature forest in the East, the Pacific Northwest, and parts of Canada. Typical places: woods. Year-round in much of the range. Some move south for winter.
What to do next
- Watch from a distance
- Do not approach a nest
- If a bird is injured, call a local wildlife rehabilitator
This page is a field guide, not a permit to approach wildlife. If an animal is injured, aggressive, or inside a house, call a local wildlife officer.
Animals it is confused with
- Hairy woodpecker identification
- American crow identification
- All animal identification pages
- Identify an animal from a photo, track, or description
What do pileated woodpecker holes look like?
Large rectangles in dead wood, with a pile of chips at the base of the tree.
How to tell a pileated woodpecker from similar animals
Use the track, the dropping, and the place together. One print is not enough.
- Hairy woodpecker. No useful ground track. A larger copy of the downy, with a long bill.
- American crow. A walking line of perching prints, smaller and less heavy than a raven. All black, smaller than a raven, with a fan-shaped tail and a thinner bill.
Pileated woodpecker field marks
- Large rectangular holes in dead wood
- Piles of wood chips at the base of a tree
- Crow-sized black bird with a red crest if seen
- White stripe on the neck
Where the sign shows up
Mature forest in the East, the Pacific Northwest, and parts of Canada. Typical places: woods. Year-round in much of the range. Some move south for winter.
The sign is the excavation: a deep rectangle in a dead trunk, with chips below. Not a footprint. Whitewash below a roost hole, which is often oval.
Common questions
What do pileated woodpecker holes look like?
Large rectangles in dead wood, with a pile of chips at the base of the tree.