Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker in Michigan

Dryocopus pileatus

Identification. Crow-sized woodpecker with red crest, black body, and white stripes on face and neck. Loud, deep 'cuk-cuk-cuk-cuk' call carries through mature forest. Drumming is slow and resonant.

Status in Michigan. Common year-round resident in mature forest. Pileated Woodpecker is present in every Michigan county where mature forest with large standing trees exists. The species has recovered substantially as Michigan forests have aged through the 20th and into the 21st century.

Habitat. Mature deciduous and mixed forest with large standing dead trees. Less restricted to wilderness than formerly; now found in well-treed suburban tracts.

Where to find Pileated Woodpecker. Reliable in any mature Michigan forest tract. Hartwick Pines State Park, Porcupine Mountains, and Pigeon River Country State Forest all offer consistent encounters.

Best Michigan counties for Pileated Woodpecker. Crawford, Marquette, Schoolcraft, Houghton, Wexford. Click any county above to see recent Pileated Woodpecker sightings and hotspot information.

Conservation. Stable, increasing. Recovery of mature forest acreage has supported population expansion.

The sightings table below this section pulls live Pileated Woodpecker reports from eBird across all 83 Michigan counties, refreshed every 15 minutes. For comprehensive historical records and global range information, the eBird species profile and Cornell Lab of Ornithology Birds of the World account are the authoritative references.

Edited by Chris Izworski, Bay City, Michigan. Sightings data from eBird, updated every 15 minutes.