The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest confirmed woodpecker species currently living in North America, recognizable by its flaming red crest. Its highly specialized diet drives much of its daily activity and shapes its function within the forest ecosystem. Understanding what this powerful bird consumes provides insight into its adaptations and its role in maintaining forest health.
The Essential Insect Diet
The foundation of the Pileated Woodpecker’s diet is insects, which it seeks out year-round. Its primary food source is the carpenter ant, which can constitute up to 97% of the bird’s diet in certain seasons, often making up 40% to 60% of its overall caloric intake. These woodpeckers target colonies of carpenter ants residing deep within the wood of dead, diseased, or decaying trees and large logs. They also consume other insect pests, most notably the larvae (grubs) of wood-boring beetles.
The birds focus their foraging on standing dead trees (snags) and fallen woody debris where these insects thrive. By excavating decaying wood to access ant galleries and beetle tunnels, the woodpecker helps accelerate the natural decomposition process. This search for insects, including termites and other invertebrates, is particularly intense during the winter months. During the cold season, carpenter ants hibernate in large colonies near the base of trees, providing a reliable food source when other insects are scarce.
Seasonal Foraging for Plant Matter
While insects form the bulk of its sustenance, the Pileated Woodpecker supplements its diet with plant matter, especially when insect availability fluctuates seasonally. This omnivorous flexibility ensures the birds meet their energy needs throughout the year. Fruits and berries become more important in the fall and winter, providing necessary carbohydrates and fats.
The woodpecker consumes a variety of wild fruits, including wild grapes, sumac berries, holly, greenbrier, and poison ivy. They also seek out nuts and acorns when available. During harsh weather or when natural foods are limited, they may visit human-provided food sources. They show a fondness for suet, which offers a high-fat supplement that helps them survive the winter.
Specialized Feeding Techniques
The Pileated Woodpecker employs specialized tools and behaviors to acquire its food. The bird’s powerful beak acts as a chisel, carving out large, deep holes in wood to expose insect tunnels. These excavations are often distinctively rectangular or oval and can extend a foot or more along the trunk or log.
To locate prey beneath the surface, the woodpecker uses its sense of hearing, tapping the wood to listen for the hollow sound of decay or the movements of insects. Once the ant gallery or larval chamber is exposed, the bird uses its long tongue, which is equipped with a barbed tip and sticky saliva. This feature, supported by the hyoid apparatus that wraps around the back of the skull, allows the bird to probe deeply into narrow tunnels and extract the ants and beetle grubs.