THE ANIMAL FILES

Pileated woodpecker

Dryocopus pileatus

A tree can be a feeding site, a drum and a future home.

Pileated woodpeckers excavate large feeding holes while searching for insects in wood. They also carve nest cavities that can later shelter other birds and mammals, giving these two kinds of excavation different roles in the forest.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Pileated woodpecker
Image: Shenandoah National Park from Virginia · Commons · Public domain
Food
Ants are prominent prey[1]
Foraging marks
Large, roughly rectangular excavations[1]
Communication
Drumming on resonant wood[1]

Following insects into wood

The birds chip into trees to reach insects, especially ant colonies, and extend long tongues into crevices. Fallen dead timber can also contain prey, so foraging is not restricted to standing trunks.[1]

A nest built by excavation

Pairs excavate a cavity in a tree and leave wood chips inside. Both parents incubate eggs. After the breeding season, the cavity may be used for roosting or become available to other animals rather than serving the same nest every year.[1]

A tree can carry a message

Drumming helps advertise territory, with hollow wood providing a resonant surface. Tapping also occurs between partners during nest construction. A strike on wood may therefore be communication rather than a search for food.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Does every strike mean the bird found an insect?

No. Drumming and tapping also serve territorial and pair communication.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why can a dead tree matter to cavity-nesting animals?

Reveal the explanation

It can hold prey for the excavating bird and later retain a cavity usable by species that do not make such a large hole themselves.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Pileated woodpecker (fixed revision; adapted and translated)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Dryocopus pileatus (identity and classification)

Last fact check:

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