Pileated Woodpecker: Camping Visitor

The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker that lives in Pennsylvania.  It’s quite likely the largest woodpecker in North America as well, but that was not always the case.  A substantially larger species called the Ivory-billed Woodpecker was once found in mature forests in the southeastern United States.  Unfortunately, the last confirmed sightings of Ivory-billed Woodpeckers in the United States were in 1938.  A smaller population persisted in Cuba, but the species hasn’t been confirmed there since 1948.

The two Pileated Woodpeckers in these photos visited my family in June while we were tent camping in Maryland.  They arrived together and foraged on some dead trees and fallen logs, searching for their preferred prey – carpenter ants and the large grubs that chew through rotting wood.  Pairs of Pileated Woodpeckers often mate for life.  They’re non-migratory and they may live for about ten years, so the same two birds will share a territory for several years.  If either dies, the survivor will usually attract a new mate for future breeding seasons.

Pileated Woodpeckers are fairly common in the Susquehanna Valley, but you’ll only find them in areas with large trees.  Younger forests with smaller trees don’t provide tree trunks thick enough for nest cavities.  Additionally, such forests have less of the dead and dying wood where woodpecker food is abundant.  I used to see Pileated Woodpeckers in my backyard several times per week while I was growing up south of Pittsburgh.  I’ve been in my home in Lancaster County for 16 years now, and we haven’t had a single Pileated Woodpecker visit.