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Pileated woodpeckers are the largest woodpeckers in North America. 
Pileated woodpeckers
are about 15 inches long, approximately the size of a crow. The
pileated woodpecker has a black body, a prominent red crest at rear
of its head, and white stripes on its neck. Pileated woodpeckers
are adapted mainly for climbing
on vertical surfaces, although they occasionally hop on the ground.
Found in forests, pileated woodpeckers eat carpenter ants and other insects. You can tell when a pileated woodpecker has been excavating on a broken snag or dead tree, because it leaves large rectangular holes where it has been feeding. Pileated woodpeckers make their nests in tree cavities. A woodpecker excavates a cavity by striking the tree with its bill and chipping away at the wood. The female lays four eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs during the day, while the male incubates the eggs at night. The chicks hatch after about two weeks and fledge when they are about a month old. top of page Woodpeckers have extremely long tongues. Woodpeckers use their sharp bills to pull bark off trees and expose ant colonies. Then, they send their long tongues in after the insects and slurp them up. The tips of their tongues are barbed and have sticky saliva to keep their prey on the tongue. The tongue on a woodpecker is so long that it actually wraps around its skull. This also aids as a cushion for the woodpecker, since it is always pounding on trees. The tongue saves the woodpecker from head trauma! Try these classroom and field trip activities to learn more about pileated Woodpeckers.
Bird Matching Game: Can you match the bird's song to its picture? (requires
Flash) top of page Learn more about pileated woodpeckers! US Geological Survey: Pileated Woodpeckers Nature of New England: Pileated Woodpeckers International Birding Information Resource Data: Pileated Woodpeckers Visit the other learning stations in the Birds of the Refuge field trip. |
