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70birds

That Nest in Birdhouses

70birds

That Nest in Birdhouses

70birds

That Nest in Birdhouses

Pileated Woodpecker

Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Dryocopus
Species: pileatus

Gr. pikos woodpecker
La. picus woodpecker
Gr. Circe, mythological daughter of Helios, changed Picus, son of Saturn, into a woodpecker
La. forma form, shape, kind
La. idae appearance, resemblance
Gr. drus tree
Gr. kopos cutter
La. pileum a cap
La. pileatus capped

Roughly seventeen inches long. White head and throat with tall scarlet red crest feathers. A black streak from the nostril, passing over the eyes to the back of the head and down over the shoulders.

Painting of a pileated woodpecker pair near their tree cavity entrance hole.

A red line below the cheek. Black upper and lower parts. Black wings with obscure white markings revealed in flight. Often mistaken for an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, although not quite as large.

Pileated woodpeckers nest and forage deep in large forests of North America.

Pileated woodpeckers inhabit forest lands in North America below 63 degrees latitude, from the West Coast in northern California and Idaho to British Colombia, east to Newfoundland, from Minnesota and Great Lakes area south to eastern Oklahoma and Texas and most of eastern US. They do not migrate.

They forage under loose bark of older decaying hardwood trees for carpenter ants and wood boring beetle larvae and sometimes insects and grubs on the ground. They also eat nuts and berries.

They drum on wood that makes the most noise and harass intruders to defend their territory.

Pileated woodpeckers excavate large nesting cavities often with more than one entrance hole from twenty to eighty feet in oak, sycamore, elm and pine trees.​

Painting of pileated woodpecker perched below a tree cavity entrance hole and another flying and a forested mountain background.

​Their entrance holes are so large they may weaken smaller tree trunks. They bore out new cavities each year leaving old cavities to be claimed by owls and small mammals.

They make no nest and deposit eggs on wood chips that remain in the bottom of the cavity. Females lay three to five white eggs which hatch after about two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another four weeks.

Pileated Woodpeckers will nest in large birdhouses. Installing these boxes at heights greater than 20′ is dangerous work best left to trades people with experience and the right equipment.

The pileated woodpecker birdhouse, also for screech owls and kestrels, has a 10″ by 10″ floor, 24″ inside floor to ceiling, 4″ diameter entrance hole located 21″ above the floor and ventilation openings.

Assemble with corrosion resistant screws fit to pre-drilled countersunk pilot holes. Secure hinged roof with shutter hooks for easy access.

Have a professional mount this box 20 feet or higher on a tree with the entrance hole facing south or east in a forest edge, or grove.

Because pileated woodpeckers normally excavate their own cavities, fill this box full of wood chips (not sawdust).

Select to visit the pileated woodpecker birdhouse page.
Select to view or print the pileated woodpecker birdhouse plans.

Pileated Woodpecker Birdhouse Plans

Pileated Woodpecker

Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Dryocopus
Species: pileatus

Gr. pikos woodpecker
La. picus woodpecker
Gr. Circe, mythological daughter of Helios, changed Picus, son of Saturn, into a woodpecker
La. forma form, shape, kind
La. idae appearance, resemblance

Gr. drus tree
Gr. kopos cutter
La. pileum a cap
La. pileatus capped

Roughly seventeen inches long.

Painting of a pileated woodpecker pair near their tree cavity entrance hole.

White head and throat with tall scarlet red crest feathers. A black streak from the nostril, passing over the eyes to the back of the head and down over the shoulders. A red line below the cheek.

Black upper and lower parts. Black wings with obscure white markings revealed in flight. Often mistaken for an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, although not quite as large.

Pileated woodpeckers nest and forage deep in large forests of North America.

Pileated woodpeckers inhabit forest lands in North America below 63 degrees latitude, from the West Coast in northern California and Idaho to British Colombia, east to Newfoundland, from Minnesota and Great Lakes area south to eastern Oklahoma and Texas and most of eastern US. They do not migrate.

They forage under loose bark of older decaying hardwood trees for carpenter ants and wood boring beetle larvae and sometimes insects and grubs on the ground. They also eat nuts and berries. They drum on wood that makes the most noise and harass intruders to defend their territory.

Pileated woodpeckers excavate large nesting cavities often with more than one entrance hole from twenty to eighty feet in oak, sycamore, elm and pine trees.

Painting of pileated woodpecker perched below a tree cavity entrance hole and another flying and a forested mountain background.

Their entrance holes are so large they may weaken smaller tree trunks. They bore out new cavities each year leaving old cavities to be claimed by owls and small mammals.

They make no nest and deposit eggs on wood chips that remain in the bottom of the cavity. Females lay three to five white eggs which hatch after about two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another four weeks.

Pileated Woodpeckers will nest in large birdhouses. Installing these boxes at heights greater than 20′ is dangerous work best left to trades people with experience and the right equipment.

The pileated woodpecker birdhouse, also for screech owls and kestrels, has a 10″ by 10″ floor, 24″ inside floor to ceiling, 4″ diameter entrance hole located 21″ above the floor and ventilation openings.

Assemble with corrosion resistant screws fit to pre-drilled countersunk pilot holes. Secure hinged roof with shutter hooks for easy access.

Have a professional mount this box 20 feet or higher on a tree with the entrance hole facing south or east in a forest edge, or grove.

Because pileated woodpeckers normally excavate their own cavities, fill this box full of wood chips (not sawdust).

Visit the Pileated Woodpecker Birdhouse Page

Pileated Woodpecker Nest Box

Select to view or print the pileated woodpecker birdhouse plans.

Pileated Woodpecker Nest Box Plans

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Pileated Woodpecker

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Painting of a pileated woodpecker pair near their tree cavity entrance hole.

Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Dryocopus
Species: pileatus

Gr. pikos woodpecker
La. picus woodpecker
Gr. Circe, mythological daughter of Helios, changed Picus, son of Saturn, into a woodpecker
La. forma form, shape, kind
La. idae appearance, resemblance
Gr. drus tree
Gr. kopos cutter
La. pileum a cap
La. pileatus capped

Roughly seventeen inches long.

White head and throat with tall scarlet red crest feathers. A black streak from the nostril, passing over the eyes to the back of the head and down over the shoulders. A red line below the cheek.

Black upper and lower parts. Black wings with obscure white markings revealed in flight. Often mistaken for an Ivory-billed Woodpecker, although not quite as large.

Pileated woodpeckers nest and forage deep in large forests of North America.

Pileated woodpeckers inhabit forest lands in North America below 63 degrees latitude, from the West Coast in northern California and Idaho to British Colombia, east to Newfoundland, from Minnesota and Great Lakes area south to eastern Oklahoma and Texas and most of eastern US. They do not migrate.

Painting of pileated woodpecker perched below a tree cavity entrance hole and another flying and a forested mountain background.

They forage under loose bark of older decaying large hardwood trees for carpenter ants and wood boring beetle larvae and sometimes insects and grubs on the ground. They also eat nuts and berries.

They drum on wood that makes the most noise and harass intruders to defend their territory. 

Pileated woodpeckers excavate large nesting cavities often with more than one entrance hole from twenty to eighty feet in tall trees such as oaks, sycamore, elms and pines.

Their entrance holes are so large they may weaken smaller tree trunks. They bore out new cavities each year leaving old cavities to be claimed by owls and small mammals.

They make no nest and deposit eggs on wood chips that remain in the bottom of the cavity. Females lay three to five white eggs which hatch after about two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another four weeks.

Pileated Woodpeckers will nest in large birdhouses. Installing these boxes at heights greater than 20′ is dangerous work best left to trades people with experience and the right equipment.​

Visit the pileated woodpecker nest box page.

The pileated woodpecker birdhouse, also for screech owls and kestrels, has a 10″ by 10″ floor, 24″ inside floor to ceiling, 4″ diameter entrance hole located 21″ above the floor and ventilation openings.

Assemble with corrosion resistant screws fit to pre-drilled countersunk pilot holes. Secure hinged roof with shutter hooks for easy access.

Select to view or print the pileated woodpecker birdhouse plans.

Pileated Woodpecker Nest Box Plans

Have a professional mount this box 20 feet or higher on a tree with the entrance hole facing south or east in a forest edge, or grove.

Because pileated woodpeckers normally excavate their own cavities, fill this box full of wood chips (not sawdust).

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