Voice.—The most familiar note of the pileated woodpecker is the loud, ringing call, suggesting the “yucker” call of the flicker, but louder and stronger, less rapid, more prolonged, and on a lower key.
Mr. Simmons (1925) has summed up the notes of this woodpecker very well, as follows: “A loud cac, cac, cac as it flies. A sonorous cow-cow-cow, repeated many times; a clear wichew, when two birds are together. A loud cackle, like loud, ringing, derisive laughter, chuck-chuck; chuck, chuck-ah, chuck, chuck-ah, chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck; or chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck, chuck.”
Field marks.—The pileated woodpecker has the appearance of a large, black bird, nearly as large as a crow and somewhat like it in flight, but the large, white patches in the wings are distinctive, as well as the flaming red crest. As it bounds through the woods in long swinging flights from tree to tree, it is unmistakable. While hammering on a tree trunk, its long neck and heavy head and beak are conspicuous and distinctive.
Winter.—Throughout most of its range the southern pileated woodpecker is a permanent resident; in fact, there is very little southward movement for the species, even in the more northern portions of its range, except for winter wanderings in search of a suitable food supply.
Vernon Sharpe, Jr. (1932), writing from Tennessee, says: “The winter roosting place of this bird is rather interesting. A live hollow tree is selected, and there two or more holes are dug, presumably with the thought of using one for escape should any attack by some night marauder take place. These roosting places are used year after year; in fact, there is one site in the Overton Hills, south of Nashville, that has been used for so many seasons it has become essential for the woodpecker to cut away a portion of the tree that is trying to heal over the cavity.”
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—North America; chiefly timbered regions east of the Great Plains and from southern Mackenzie to western Montana and California.
The range of the pileated woodpecker extends north to northern British Columbia (Buckley Lake and Thutade Lake); southern Mackenzie (Fort Liard and Fort Smith); northern Saskatchewan (Poplar Point); northeastern Ontario (Moose Factory); and southeastern Quebec (Godbout and Mont Louis Lake). East through the wooded areas along the Atlantic coast to southeastern Florida (Everglades, Royal Palm Hammock, and Key West). South along the Gulf coasts of Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana, to southeastern Texas (San Point). The species is not known through the southern Rocky Mountain and Great Basin regions, appearing next in central California (Yosemite Valley and Napa County). From the latter point it occurs north along the Pacific coast through Oregon and Washington, to northwestern British Columbia (Hazelton and Buckley Lake).
The range above outlined is for the entire species, which has, however, been separated into four subspecies. The southern pileated woodpecker (C. p. pileatus) is found in the Eastern United States from central Texas and northern Florida north to Oklahoma, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, southern Pennsylvania, and Maryland; the northern pileated woodpecker (C. p. abieticola), occupies the balance of the range in Eastern North America, except for the peninsula of Florida to which the Florida pileated woodpecker (C. p. floridanus) is restricted. The western pileated woodpecker (C. p. picinus) is found chiefly in the humid areas of the Northwest coast district but also south to central California and east to western Montana and Idaho.
Casual records.—Two specimens have been taken in North Dakota, one at Grafton on May 30, 1905, and the other at Fargo on October 16, 1915. It may occur rarely in Wyoming, although no specimen is at present known. The Colorado and New Mexico records are not considered satisfactory.