The pileated woodpecker is about 15 inches in length and is one of the largest woodpeckers found in North America. It has a black body, a red crest, white stripes on its neck and black and white stripes on its face. It has yellow bristly feathers over its nostrils that keep out wood chips. It has a long, sticky tongue; a long, sharp pointed bill and yellow eyes. Males and females are similar, but males have a red forehead, and females have a gray to yellowish brown forehead.

The pileated woodpecker lives in Canada from British Columbia east to Nova Scotia. It can be found in most areas of the eastern United States. It can be found in the west from Washington south to California and east to Idaho and North Dakota.

The pileated woodpecker lives in coniferous and deciduous forests.  Eating  insects, fruits and nuts. A large part of its diet is made up of carpenter ants and beetle larvae. It uses its sharp bill to pull bark off a tree to expose ant colonies, then uses its sticky tongue to poke into holes and drag out the ants. It also digs out large rectangular holes in trees to create roosting and nesting spots and to expose insects.

The pileated woodpecker makes its nest in a tree cavity. The female lays four eggs. Both parents incubate the eggs during the day and he male incubates the eggs at night. The chicks hatch after a little more than two weeks and fledge when they are about a month old.