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Bird Sounds: Pileated Woodpecker

A pileated woodpecker on a branch
Image Credit:
Pixabay
Written By: Heidi Stonehill Executive Editor

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).

Pileated Woodpecker

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. 

Bird Sounds

About The Author

Heidi Stonehill

Heidi Stonehill

Executive Editor

Heidi Stonehill is the Executive Editor for The Old Farmer’s Almanac, joining the team in 2001. As such, she manages the content development of the Almanac’s line of wall, engagement, box, and special...

Read more from Heidi Stonehill

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Comments

<span>Nancy</span> Fri, 07/05/2019 - 17:40
Last night I heard a bird that I thought was a jungle bird. I knew I had heard that sound before, but couldn't remember where, maybe the Jumanji movie? I searched half the day to match the sound and the closest I could find was an Australian kookaburra. Couldn't have been that so I kept searching. It had to have been a Pileated woodpecker. I've never seen one, but a friend a couple towns away took a picture of one on her tree a couple months ago in Oxford Connecticut. It was dark out and early evening when it made that loud wonderful sound. I am going to play this recording of it and hope it responds. Now I'll have to go get a suet feeder and cross my fingers for a viewing of it.
<span>Deborah Frederick</span> Wed, 03/20/2019 - 20:23
We have daily sightings and listenings to pileated woodpeckers here in Clermont county in SW Ohio. I have observed them on sycamore trees and oak trees mostly.
<span>Connie</span> Wed, 02/20/2019 - 21:04
Amazing to watch and hear. Two look as if they were excavating a nest one was watching as the male was drilling in my backyard tree. Orlando, Fl.
<span>Cindy Ross</span> Fri, 09/14/2018 - 12:42
yes we have several in our backyard they love eating the grapes that grow all over our trees I love to hear that beautiful call
<span>Anita Dotson</span> Wed, 08/01/2018 - 16:38
We have several I hear and see every morning and I live near Holly Springs, MS
<span>Jaceann Troutt</span> Thu, 06/07/2018 - 08:29
I have two that come to my feeders every day. They have pecked at my windows and once at my door. I enjoy watching them, they are so facinating!!! Poland, IN
<span>Amy Pelc</span> Sun, 05/27/2018 - 09:42
I live in Charlotte, NY, which is part of the city of Rochester, and has the lake to the North and river to the east. My street ends on the West Bank gorge of the Genesee. I saw a pair of them this am in my backyard! I heard them first!!!
<span>Margie</span> Wed, 09/27/2017 - 11:18
Just saw two pileated woodpeckers on the live oak trees right outside my window. They made the exact sound of your recording.
<span>Cindy Crouch</span> Sun, 09/17/2017 - 19:48
We just moved down by the lake in Golden Missouri and are still learning the sounds of all the wildlife, we were in the garage when we heard the ruckus, we walked out to see these two beautiful woodpeckers going round and round on the tree, one kept its wings flared out while the other kept its wings tucked in. They circled this tree on there feet up and down the trunk as if playing catch me if you can for about 15 minutes before they flew away.
<span>Joyce Mackay</span> Wed, 09/06/2017 - 18:27
We have had this woodpecker visit us a couple of times. The first time was two years ago. It took quite a chunk out of our maple tree. This year it appeared again. You could hear it before you could see it. I put up a brightly colored flag next to the tree to try to scare it away as it makes quite a mess. We reside in New Brunswick ,Canada.