Pileated woodpeckers are the largest woodpecker species found in most of North America. With their striking red crest, black-and-white coloration, and loud, distinctive call, these crow-sized birds are a treat to observe in backyards. Though pileated woodpeckers prefer large swaths of mature forest, they will visit suburban and even urban yards where sufficient food sources exist. By making a few adjustments to your landscaping and providing specialized food and shelters, you can greatly increase your odds of attracting these awe-inspiring woodpeckers.
What do pileated woodpeckers eat?
Pileated woodpeckers are omnivores, feeding on a variety of plant and animal sources. Their favorite foods include:
- Carpenter ants – The most important food source, providing up to 60% of the pileated woodpecker’s annual diet
- Wood-boring beetle larvae
- Termites
- Other ants
- Wild fruits and berries
- Tree sap
- Nuts such as acorns
- Seeds from conifers
Carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae make up the majority of a pileated woodpecker’s animal prey. They use their powerful beaks to excavate into dead or dying trees, stumps, and logs searching for ants burrowing through the wood and beetle larvae tunneling under the bark. Pileated woodpeckers also regularly supplement their diet with plant-based foods like fruit, nuts, sap, and seeds.
By landscaping your yard to provide their favorite food sources, you can make it an attractive dining destination for pileated woodpeckers and increase your chances of spotting them.
How to attract pileated woodpeckers with landscaping
When planning and maintaining your yard’s landscaping, keep the dietary preferences of pileated woodpeckers in mind:
- Leave dead trees and stumps in place – These provide critical foraging sites for carpenter ants and beetle larvae.
- Let fallen logs decompose on the ground – Rotting logs offer good habitat for pileated woodpecker prey.
- Plant oak trees – Oaks attract carpenter ants and produce acorns for food.
- Plant native berry-producing shrubs – Serviceberry, elderberry, wild grape, and dogwood support birds with their fruit.
- Retain mature conifers – Pileated woodpeckers eat seeds from the cones.
- Set up suet feeders – Offer suet supplements, especially in winter when prey is scarce.
Leaving snags (dead trees) and fallen logs in your yard, instead of chopping them down or removing them for a tidy appearance, provides essential habitat for the ants, beetles, and termites pileated woodpeckers feed on. Allowing vegetation to grow naturally, with multi-layered trees, shrubs, and leaf litter, will also encourage populations of woodpecker prey. Planting native hardwoods like oaks or fruiting shrubs offers supplemental food sources for pileated woodpeckers as well.
Other ways to make your yard pileated woodpecker friendly
In addition to tailoring your landscaping and plants to the needs of pileated woodpeckers, you can take other steps to increase your chances of attracting them:
- Install tall birdhouses suited for woodpeckers – Unused nest boxes provide roosting sites year-round.
- Provide a small-scale forest habitat – The more your property mimics their natural habitat, the better.
- Reduce use of pesticides – Avoid chemicals that deplete prey populations for woodpeckers.
- Put up mesh sleeves on poles and trees – Makes fantastic drumming posts for pileated woodpeckers.
- Offer a water source – A shallow bird bath or fountain provides drinking water.
- Let brush piles accumulate – Provides cover for ants and other prey.
Pileated woodpeckers rarely nest or feed in birdhouses, but they will roost in the large cavities of unused nest boxes. Creating a small wooded area in your backyard with mature trees, standing dead trees, and fallen logs will come closest to replicating the woodpecker’s ideal old-growth forest habitat. Providing open areas with bare poles or trees surrounded by anti-drumming mesh sleeves gives pileated woodpeckers perfect places to advertise their territory by loudly drumming on the surface. A reliable, shallow water source will help attract woodpeckers to your yard to feed and drink. Maintaining messy areas with thick shrubs, leaf litter, and brush piles provides cover and habitat for ant colonies, beetles, and other important prey.
When and where are pileated woodpeckers most likely to visit my yard?
Pileated woodpeckers are non-migratory residents across much of their range, potentially visiting yards year-round. However, they are most likely to appear in your backyard under these circumstances:
- During winter – When natural food sources are scarcer.
- In early spring – Drumming and calling to attract a mate.
- In summer – Adults frequent yards more often when feeding nestlings.
- In fall – Seeking seeds, nuts, and fruits from trees/shrubs.
- On forest edges – More likely along wooded borders.
- Anytime prey is abundant – Follows food availability.
Though pileated woodpeckers sometimes visit platform feeders with suet, they mainly forage and feed in trees. Focus your landscaping efforts on forested edges adjacent to clearings or open lawn areas. This allows the woodpeckers to dart out from the trees to grab seeds, fruits, or insects from the open habitat. Clearings with tall trees for drumming and nesting are also favored. Early mornings and late afternoons tend to be most active feeding times.
What are signs of pileated woodpecker activity?
Watch and listen for these clues that pileated woodpeckers may be present on your property:
- Loud drumming on resonant objects – Often communications signaling territory or attracting a mate.
- Large, rectangular excavations in dead/dying trees – Foraging sites and potential nest cavities.
- Distinctive cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk call – Easily recognizable vocalization.
- Fresh, large woodpecker holes – Especially in softer woods like cottonwood and aspen.
- Large logs or stumps torn apart – Evidence of foraging for carpenter ants.
- Large bird fleeing with undulating flight pattern – Distinctive flight style.
The most common signs of active pileated woodpeckers are the very noticeable, rectangular holes they chisel out of trees in search of wood-boring insects and carpenter ants. The purposeful, loud drumming they perform with their beaks as a form of communication is also a frequent giveaway. Getting a glimpse of their bright red crest disappearing into the forest along with the unique whinnying call are sure confirmations pileated woodpeckers are present.
What risks or annoyances do pileated woodpeckers pose?
Overall, pileated woodpeckers provide tremendous ecosystem services and are unlikely to become a nuisance. However, there are a few potential downsides:
- Drumming can be noisy – Mostly during mating season in early spring.
- Large cavities excavated in trees – Can potentially weaken or kill valued trees.
- Damage to wooden structures – Mostly limited to older, untreated wood.
- Messy sap flow – Excavations allow sap to leak from trees.
- Territorial disputes – Chasing and drumming against metal chimney caps.
- Frightening appearance – Some people find large woodpeckers intimidating.
The drumming pileated woodpeckers perform using trees, poles, and metal surfaces can produce extremely loud, machine gun-like sounds from early morning until evening, especially during spring mating season. This bothers some property owners. Their large excavations can also weaken or kill some trees over time. However, the ecological benefits pileated woodpeckers provide by helping control wood-boring insect populations far outweigh any minor annoyances. Just avoid installing drumming posts too close to bedrooms or living areas.
Fun facts about pileated woodpeckers
Here are some interesting tidbits of information about these crow-sized woodpeckers:
- Pileated means “capped” or “crested” – Refers to their prominent red head plumes.
- The largest woodpecker in North America – Nearly the size of a crow.
- Require a large territory – A breeding pair needs 500 acres of forest on average.
- Cavities provide habitat for other wildlife – After abandonment, used by owls, ducks, bats, and pine martens.
- Unique cuboidal poop shape – Distinguished from more splatter-shaped woodpecker droppings.
- Male has red “mustache” – Red striping extends onto the face.
- Powerful excavators – Bore out deep, rectangular cavities into trees.
- Drum up to 20 times per second – Both sexes drum aggressively in early spring.
From the striking, scarlet Woody Woodpecker-like crest (minus the crazy eyes) to the rectangular excavations they chisel out, pileated woodpeckers have many unusual traits. Their ability to hack out such substantial cavities in search of food benefits numerous other species that later occupy those holes. And few birds can match the pileated woodpecker’s rapid-fire drumming capabilities. Their unique looks, sounds, and behaviors make them one of the most captivating birds to observe in backyards.
Conclusion
Attracting flashy pileated woodpeckers to your yard requires mimicking their natural forest habitat as closely as possible. Let dead trees stand and fallen logs accumulate, plant native hardwoods and fruiting trees/shrubs, and avoid pesticide overuse. Provide ample habitat for carpenter ants, beetles, and termites so hungry pileated woodpeckers are drawn to your property in search of food. A few adjustments tailored specifically to the needs of these crow-sized woodpeckers can allow you to regularly experience the sight of their crimson crest disappearing into your backyard forest along with the sounds of their exotic drumming displays. Though occasional drumming may be an annoyance, the ecological benefits and excitement of observing pileated woodpeckers up-close will outweigh any negatives for most nature lovers. With a little planning and patience, your backyard could become a go-to destination for one of North America’s most spectacular woodpeckers!