Listen to the Pileated Woodpecker Call!
Can you identify the call of the pileated woodpecker? Listen and learn about this woodland bird.
The pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in North America (after the ivory-billed woodpecker, which is presumed to be extinct). These birds can reach up to 19 inches from tail to tip and sport a wingspan of up to 30 inches!
The pileated woodpecker gets its name from the bright-red crest on its head. “Pileated,” which comes from the Latin word for “-capped,” ultimately stems from a type of Ancient Greek hat known as a pilos (pileus in Latin).
Read Next
In late winter, the male pileated woodpecker prepares for the upcoming nesting season, which typically starts in April. Using his incredible bill, he hammers out a nesting area in a dead tree and hopes to attract a mate. Once paired, pileated woodpeckers usually hang around their territory throughout the year, defending it from interlopers. Amazingly, they do not reuse their nests from year to year, which makes the hollow an attractive home for other forest dwellers, such as raccoons and owls.
Have you heard a pileated woodpecker in the wild? Add your comments below. Be sure to let us know where you live or where you’ve heard this bird sound before!
Click here to listen to the sounds of other birds! Bird sounds compliments of The Macaulay Library at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Heidi Stonehill
ADVERTISEMENT
The Pileated Woodpecker often sounds like a tropical bird to me.
In okla cent one was haclking away.
I would hear and see one in Winslow Maine and occasionally in Pittston Maine
I have seen the male Pileated woodpecker on our property for several years. This year I have one that is active in April and I hope he will stay for a while. Rochester, IL 62563
I thought they might be wild turkeys when I first heard them as we had some in a nearby woods. They lived to eat the seeds of my large southern magnolia and drill the insects out of the tree trunk. My first ever sighting was of one on a telephone pole.
I have a Pileated Woodpecker in my backyard! I love them!! 🥰
I hope to one day get a tattoo of the one from the cover of Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins.
*Forgot to add, New Market, Tennessee
I hear and see them frequently! I live in Northeast Mississippi in a wooded area. Love seeing and hearing these birds!
We have had a pileated woodpecker visit us in our yard here in NH for a few years now. He is quite impressive!
We used to see them every year in Cumming, GA. We lived in a wooded area by Lake Lanier. One year a couple moved into an old dead tree close to our deck. We were able to watch them that season. It was really cool. As our area grew, their habitat shrank and we stopped seeing them.
