Field Guide/Birds/Dryocopus pileatus
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| Dryocopus pileatus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The Pileated Woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus, is a very large woodpecker. It is also known as the Log Cock (Logcock, and, by corruption, Lord God Bird, Good God Bird, or Great God Bird).
Adults are mainly black with a red crest and a white line down the sides of the throat. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat and red on the front of the crown. In adult females, these are black. They show white on the wings in flight. The only bird of similar plumage and size is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which is extremely rare and was thought extinct until a recent sighting in 2005.
Their breeding habitat is forested areas with large trees across Canada, the eastern United States and parts of the Pacific coast. They nest in a large cavity in a dead tree or a dead part of a tree; this bird usually excavates a new home each year, creating habitat for other large cavity nesters.
This bird is usually a permanent resident.
These birds chip out holes, often quite large, while searching out insects in trees. They mainly eat insects, especially carpenter ants, and fruits, berries and nuts.
The call is a wild laugh, similar to the Northern Flicker. This bird favors mature forests, but has adapted to use second-growth stands and heavily wooded parks as well.
