Dryocopus pileatus
Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pileated Woodpecker sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 1,906 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 67th most-seen of the 279 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pileated Woodpecker in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against about 10% in February, June–July and November–December, the lowest months. Those are among Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain a month against 50 mm in March.
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.
11th of 22
Of the 22 parks where we can rate Pileated Woodpecker sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 11th at about 20%. The best odds are in Congaree National Park (United States, about 80%), Isle Royale National Park (United States, about 40%) and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (United States, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Pileated Woodpecker that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Red-bellied Woodpecker (about 40%), Northern Flicker (about 20%) and Downy Woodpecker (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 Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (1,906 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.
