The Pileated Woodpecker is North America’s largest extant woodpecker, easily identified in the winter forest by its crow-like size and striking, fiery-red crest. To survive the coldest months, this bird must maintain a high-energy diet, which is challenging when snow and ice cover the landscape. When seasonal food sources like surface insects and soft fruits disappear, the woodpecker relies on a specialized, labor-intensive foraging strategy. Its survival depends on locating and extracting concentrated, high-calorie food sources hidden beneath the bark and deep within the wood of trees.
The Primary Diet: Deep-Wood Insects
The winter diet of the Pileated Woodpecker is dominated by insect prey that overwinters deep within decaying wood. The most important food source for the woodpecker is the carpenter ant (Camponotus species), which can constitute over 60% of its total winter intake. These ants retreat into large, dormant colonies deep inside dead or compromised trees and logs, ensuring the woodpecker’s excavation efforts yield a substantial, calorie-dense meal.
This staple provides the fat and protein necessary to fuel the bird’s high metabolism and strenuous daily activity in frigid temperatures. A secondary food source is the larvae of wood-boring beetles, particularly those from the longhorn beetle family (Cerambycidae). These large grubs are also found deep within the wood, offering rich nourishment and allowing the woodpecker to bypass ground-level food scarcity caused by snow cover.
Specialized Foraging Methods in Cold Weather
Accessing this hidden insect bounty requires a specialized foraging technique. The Pileated Woodpecker uses its heavy, chisel-like bill to pound through the tough exterior of trees, focusing on standing dead trees, fallen logs, or stumps. This intense excavation leaves behind distinctive, large, nearly rectangular holes, sometimes measuring over a foot in length. The volume of wood chips piled at the base of a targeted tree indicates the effort expended to expose an ant gallery.
The woodpecker selects dead or diseased wood because it is softer and more easily penetrated, and more likely to harbor dense insect populations. They detect prey by hearing faint movements or by tapping to find hollow sections. Once the colony is breached, the bird uses its remarkably long, pointed, and barbed tongue to reach deep into the tunnels. This specialized tongue, anchored by the hyoid bone that wraps around the skull, is coated in sticky saliva to efficiently extract ants and larvae from their hiding places.
Essential Supplemental Winter Foods
While deep-wood insects form the foundation of the winter diet, the woodpecker relies on supplemental foods for energy and hydration. Wild fruits and berries that remain on shrubs are consumed, sometimes accounting for up to a quarter of the total diet. Examples include the persistent fruits of sumac, wild grape, poison ivy, and Virginia creeper. These items offer a quick source of carbohydrates and moisture, especially important when temperatures are too high or too low for successful insect foraging.
The woodpecker also consumes nuts and seeds, such as acorns, beech nuts, and pine seeds, which provide fats and calories. On warmer winter days, they may engage in sap-feeding, drilling small holes known as sapwells to access sugary tree sap. In suburban areas, human-provided food is a reliable supplement. Suet, a block of rendered fat, is a high-calorie option that offers a concentrated source of energy, helping the woodpecker maintain its body temperature.