The pileated woodpecker's bright red crest and white feathers on the face and neck distinguish it from other types of woodpeckers.
The pileated eoodpecker is a large species of woodpecker native to many parts of North America. Found mainly in the forests of the eastern United States, the Great Lakes, the Pacific Coast and parts of Canada, this bird is known for its black feathers on the body and bright streaks of red and white plumage on the head and neck. Pileated woodpeckers are nearly the size of the American crow and are the largest type of woodpecker, except for the ivory-billed, which is now so rare it is thought to be nearly extinct.
Courtship
Pileated woodpeckers, like many wild species of birds and other animals, perform a kind of mating dance when attempting to attract a partner. Male birds will start their dance with a bowing motion, and then continue that motion periodically while stepping sideways in a circle around the female. It is also common to see two woodpeckers hopping or skipping around the trunk of a tree, occasionally coming close enough to one other to touch beaks with a loud clicking noise before they quickly flit away from one another again. Actual copulation most often takes place on open, sturdy branches. Males sometimes perform a smaller, shortened version of the mating dance before copulation, by waving their heads and bills in arc-shaped motions.
Monogamous Couplings
Pileated woodpeckers are one wild species that chooses a long-term, monogamous partner. Many male and female pairs bond for their entire lives. Pairs of pileated woodpeckers build new nests together each year, by boring one out of a dead tree or branch.
Nesting
Though they usually mate for life, pileated woodpecker pairs do not always roost together during the night. They stay together at all times while incubating and caring for their young, but once the chicks mature enough to fly and make nests of their own, adult woodpeckers will frequently separate during the night to sleep in different nests, then come together again during the day.
Offspring
Female pileated eoodpeckers lay approximately four eggs per clutch. Both male and female birds take turns caring for the eggs and keeping them warm, though male woodpeckers usually incubate the eggs during the colder nighttime hours. After about two weeks of incubation, the eggs hatch. Both male and female woodpeckers again take turns feeding and caring for their young. The chicks stay with their parents in the nest for about one month before taking flight for the first time.
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