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Pileated woodpecker
HABITAT
In deciduous or mixed forests and parks. It prefers open forests with tall trunks.
DESCRIPTION
The male and the female look a lot alike! The male has a red mustache which the female does not have!
It has a bright red crest that resembles a mohawk. The head and neck are black and white striped and the underside of wings is white.
The Pileated woodpecker is the largest of the woodpeckers! It's wingspan is 70 cm, it's about 45 centimeters tall and weighs up to 350 grams, about the weight of an avocado.
The Pileated Woodpecker lives an average of 9 years.
BEHAVIOR
The Pileated Woodpecker mainly eats insects, such as carpenter ants, which it finds in trees, but also fruits and seeds.
Woodpeckers can be recognized by the shape of the holes they make in trees. The Pileated Woodpecker makes rather large rectangular or oval shaped holes.
The Pileated Woodpecker is monogamous! It takes about 25 days to dig the cavity that will serve as a nest.
The cavity dug by this woodpeckers is almost always more than 40 centimeters in diameter!
SURPRISING FACTS
When the woodpeckers leave their nest, other birds, and even flying squirrels can come and settle there!
The tongue of the Great Woodpeckers is very long, the beak is used to pierce the wood, but it's his tongue that will look for the insects in the hole!
Their nostrils are covered with a small feather to prevent wood shavings from entering when they dig.
It is the bird that inspired the character of Woody Woodpecker!
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