Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)

Abundance: Fairly Common at all seasons; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); the Regional population is probably stable (LINK to Regional Bird- Monitoring Plan).

Status: Permanent Resident; specimen (8 June 1938; Coopersville, Wayne County, Kentucky; W. M. Perrygo; Wetmore 1940); photograph [male] (Stephen J. Stedman [using Edmund K. LeGrand's camera]; Rock Island State Park, Warren County, Tennessee; 7 March 2009); photograph [female] (Stephen J. Stedman; City Lake, Putnam County, Tennessee; 11 February 2012).

Regional High Count and CBC/CBB High Count: 53 (18 December 2001; Clay County, Tennessee [CBC]; m. ob.); SBC/SBB High Count: 46 (10 May 2008; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 40 (3 dates; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.).

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). Undoubtedly breeds in all Regional counties but quite reticent during the breeding cycle so confirmations moderately difficult to obtain.

Habitat: Woodlands of various ages, mostly 25 years old or older; adapts fairly well to suburban and even urban conditions if sufficient woodland is retained within these zones. Pairs hold larger territories than are held by smaller species of woodpeckers; consequently, fewer Pileated territories can be monitored per unit of time spent or area covered than is the case for the smaller piciformes.  However, in optimal habitat Pileateds may become the most abundant woodpecker; for instance, during a 48-km (30-mi) hiking transect conducted 23 May 2000 along the John Muir Trail from Divide Rd. to Leatherwood Ford in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Scott County, Tennessee, 28 Pileated Woodpeckers were counted, about 0.6/km (1/mi) in habitat considered to be optimal for this species (Stedman and Stedman 2002) but where fewer Red-bellied and Downy woodpeckers were counted the same day.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 85 (of 125 possible) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 160 (of 206 possible) check-lists during 2004, each leading to a YardWatch frequency classification of Common in Regional yards and neighborhoods and each indicating that this woodpecker was more likely to be encountered in those areas than within the Region as a whole.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: x

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited