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 Pileated Woodpecker
   Dryocopus pileatus

Status:

Uncommon

SP, S, F, W

 Pileated Woodpeckers are large and unmistakable. There is at least one nesting pair on campus. The picture at bottom left shows a pair mating in the pine trees at Montague Village (photo taken on 4/4/09). They may be the largest extant species of woodpecker in North America. The largest species, the Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico, has been driven to extinction by habitat loss; the last confirmed sighting was in 1956. The status of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, native to the Southeastern U.S. , is in question. Thought to be extinct since the 1930's, sightings, calls, and photographs from Arkansas in 2005 have raised the possibility that the species is hanging on in isolated pockets of southestern swamplands. There are several large survey efforts underway, attempting to confirm their existence.
 

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