Pileated Woodpecker, watercolor on 300lb paper.The pileated woodpecker (*Dryocopus pileatus*) is the largest woodpecker in North America, roughly the size of a crow, measuring about 16–19 inches in length. It is a striking bird, cloaked in bold black plumage with a vivid red triangular crest atop its head — the feature that inspired the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker. Both males and females sport white stripes running down the neck and face, though males can be distinguished by their red "mustache" stripe. Found primarily in mature deciduous and mixed forests across Canada, the eastern United States, and the Pacific Northwest, it uses its powerful chisel-like bill to excavate large, rectangular holes in dead or dying trees in search of its favorite food: carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae. Its call is loud and prehistoric-sounding — a wild, laughing *kuk-kuk-kuk* that echoes through the forest — and its hammering can be heard from great distances. The distinctive rectangular cavities it carves into trees also serve as important nesting sites for many other forest species long after the woodpecker has moved on.
