Dryocopus pileatus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The pileated woodpecker ( PY-lee-ay-tid, PIL-ee-; Dryocopus pileatus) is a large, crow-sized woodpecker with a prominent red crest, white neck stripe, and a mostly black body. This woodpecker is native to North America, where it is the largest confirmed extant woodpecker species and the third-largest extant species of woodpecker in the world, after the great slaty woodpecker and the black woodpecker. It inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific Coast. This woodpecker is primarily an insectivore, eating insects that live in trees; it is famous for making large, nearly rectangular carvings into trees, which are used to extract prey inside the tree or to make a nest. The species has a large range and an increasing population, causing it to be categorized as a species of "least concern" by the IUCN.
English naturalist Mark Catesby described and illustrated the pileated woodpecker in his book The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, which was published between 1729 and 1732. Catesby used the English name "The larger red-crested Wood-pecker" and the Latin Picus niger... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pileated Woodpecker sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 2,314 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 13th most-seen of the 173 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and November
In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Pileated Woodpecker in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against about 20% in July, the lowest month.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pileated Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 22
Of the 22 parks where we can rate Pileated Woodpecker sightings, Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Congaree National Park (United States, about 80%) and Isle Royale National Park (United States, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Pileated Woodpecker that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Downy Woodpecker (about 40%), Red-bellied Woodpecker (about 40%) and Northern Flicker (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pileated Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (2,314 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
