November 21, 2025

This morning on my way down the mountain I saw a woodpecker that I often see, a Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus). The largest woodpecker in North America. About the size of a crow. Measuring in at 16 to 19 inches long, with a wingspan of 26 to 30 inches, weighing about 8.8 to 12.3 ounces.

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) drill holes in trees searching for Carpenter Ants (Camponotus) and wood-boring beetle larvae. Trees they prefer have soft wood, or are dead or dying. Those holes, often large, rectangular or oval, are easy to spot.

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