Identifying the Pileated Woodpecker in Sonoma County, CA.

March 17, 2007 on 4:34 pm | In Uncategorized, Daily Local Birder |

Greetings Readers!
Allow me to present to you the great king of all local woodpeckers - Dryocopus pileatus, the Pileated Woodpecker. For sheer size, he far surpasses all other woodpeckers you will see in our region, and with the exception of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, he stands as the largest of all U.S. woodpeckers at up to 19 1/2″ from head to tail.

In my mind, I have a most perfect, unforgettable image of this regal bird soaring over a reflective, green forest pond, and alighting on a craggy, dead tree trunk at the far shore. There are two white bands on his upper wings and a large patch of white on his under wings, and his red head is like a flame that is truly startling when one is walking in the gloaming of a wood.

He is the only crested woodpecker in California. As we’ve discussed in previous posts, a crested head is a perfect field mark for beginning birders to use to help easily identify new birds. In Sonoma County, we have 4 birds with crested heads: the Oak Titmouse, the Cedar Waxwing, the Stellar’s Jay and the Pileated Woodpecker. There is simply no mistaking this bird, when you see him…but it is seeing him that can be the challenge!

It never ceases to strike me that a tiny bird like the Chestnut-backed Chickadee is brave enough to allow me to stand a foot away from him as I fill my birdfeeder. In point of fact, he lets me know he is rather impatiently waiting for me to serve up his meal. By contrast, a huge powerful bird like this woodpecker is incredibly shy and most people encounter them by accidentally flushing them out of a hiding place. They take off at the slightest crackle of a twig or crunch of leaves underfoot. We have enough Pileated Woodpeckers in the Bay Area to make it quite likely you will encounter one if you keep your eyes open, but you are more likely to hear one than see one. And when a Pileated woodpecker makes his kuk-kuk-kuk call or hammers a tree, the whole forest knows about it.

Loud is an understatement. He makes the tapping of other local woodpeckers sound like a mere whisper. Like a jackhammer, he bores into damaged trees and then probes with his long, sticky tongue for the carpenter ants that are the main staple of his diet. Because downed trees are good hosts for these ants, Pileated Woodpeckers are often spotted feeding on the ground, rather like the Northern Flicker. I will include here a link to Pileated Woodpecker Sounds so that you can learn to recognize his call and hammer. *However, don’t be surprised if a Stellar’s Jay ever tricks you into thinking you are hearing the Pileated Woodpecker. The jay makes a wonderful mimic of the call.

This woodpecker also drills very large, circular holes for nesting. 3-5 white eggs are common.

Male and female birds are very similar in appearance, but the female lacks the red stripe by the bill…hers is black, instead. We recently had the delight of witnessing a pair of these birds perched on adjacent power poles.

Where you can see the Pileated Woodpecker in Sonoma County
I hope you aren’t tiring of me urging you to go to Jack London State Park in Glen Ellen, but as we’ve had numerous sightings of these birds there over the past few months, this would be my best suggestion for any birder who is eager to see this majestic fowl. The eucalyptus grove and silo area beyond the upper parkinglot (turn right at the ranger’s kiosk) are exactly where to go, keeping your eyes and ears open.

My husband and I have been enthralled with the search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. We have repeatedly read, and recommend Tim Gallagher’s The Grail Bird for a thrilling, insider’s account of this quest in the mysterious swamps of the South. When I see Pileated Woodpeckers, I get a hint of what these men have felt, standing in a silent forest, seeing that shadow of black and white skimming through the trees. As I doubt I will ever go to Arkansas, Texas or the other regions where the search is still being conducted, I know that my encounters with the Pileated Woodpecker are likely the closest I will ever come to the what the Ivory-bill seekers have experienced, and it gives me a little thrill!

Down in the South, folks call the Pileated the “Good God Bird”. The Ivory Bill is the “Lord God Bird”. This comes from the exclamations people make when they are startled by the sight of such large, distinctive woodpeckers, and because the Pileated Woodpecker is a year-round Sonoma County resident, you may set out on your own search for a great big woodpecker any day of the week!