Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus

1/2000 s @ f4, ISO:1600, Nikon D300S w 500mm


\"Pileated Woodpecker,\" Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is a very large North American woodpecker, almost crow-sized, inhabiting deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific coast. It is also the largest woodpecker in the United States, excepting the possibly extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Adults are 40 to 49 cm (16 to 19 in) long, and weigh 250 to 350 g (8.8 to 12 oz). Each wing measures 21.4 to 25.3 cm (8.4 to 10.0 in), the tail measures 14 to 17.4 cm (5.5 to 6.9 in), the bill is 4.1–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) and the tarsus measures 3.1–3.8 cm (1.2–1.5 in).They are mainly black with a red crest, and have a white line down the sides of the throat. They show white on the wings in flight. Adult males have a red line from the bill to the throat, in adult females these are black.The only North American birds of similar plumage and size are the Ivory-billed Woodpecker of the Southeastern United States and Cuba, and the related Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico. However, unlike the Pileated, both of those species are extremely rare, if not extinct. Most reports of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker are believed to be erroneous reports of the far more common Pileated
Brazos Bend State Park, Needville, Texas
 
04/29/2011