The17-inch Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) is about the size of a crow and is quite dapper with his black suit, white stripes and red crest and red mustache.

His loud modulated call, rising up and down, rings throughout the mature forests and borders that he calls home.

As with most woodpeckers, the Pileated nests in carved out tree cavities. The clutch consists of 3 to 5 white eggs. This is the largest woodpecker in North America. That distinction once belonged to the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, that is now on the verge of extinction. The Pileated looks like the Ivory-billed but lacks the large white wing patches.

The diet of these large birds is carpenter ants. These birds inhabit the woods of southern Canada, northwestern US states and on the eastern half of the US to the Gulf Coast states.

The plush Pileated Woodpeckers shown are made by Wild Republic and are part of their Audubon Birds collection. These birds are unique in that when squeezed they will utter their own particular call.

Class: Aves | Order: Piciformes | Family: Picidae | Genus: Dryocopus | Species: D. pileatus

Find the Audubon Bird Piliated Woodpecker at the Jeannie's Cottage Gift Shop.