Capable of reaching an imposing 19 inches (49 cm) in length, the
pileated is the largest woodpecker in America. This feisty
redhead is hard to miss when loudly excavating in trees for food
or when carving out a nesting cavity. The name may be pronounced
either “PILL-ee-ated” or “PILE-ee-ated” and derives from the
Latin name pileatus, which means capped or crested. Woodpeckers
such as the pileated are beneficial to other woodland species
because of the nesting cavities that they leave behind each
season. New residents, from songbirds to squirrels, are happy to
move in and make themselves at home. The pileated woodpecker is
relatively common in western Pennsylvania, but is rarely banded
because of the type of net used at the banding station. The
small mesh size that is normally used is intended for smaller
birds, not these large fellows. The banding team reports that
the occasional pileated woodpecker that finds its way into a net
uses its strong claws, punishing beak, and raucous calls to make
its indignance k