pileated woodpecker
noun
: a large red-crested North American woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) that is black with white on the face, neck, and undersides of the wings
Examples of pileated woodpecker in a Sentence
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The birds, pileated woodpeckers with white stripes and a bright red crest, are North America's largest woodpeckers, as large as a crow (almost 20 inches long).
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Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 16 May 2025
An American golden-plover in Winthrop, a pileated woodpecker at the Stony Brook Reservation, a Wilson’s warbler at McLaughlin Woods in the Mission Hill area, and a vesper sparrow at Millennium Park in West Roxbury.
—Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Nov. 2022
The page should have shown an American robin and pileated woodpecker.
—oregonlive, 16 Mar. 2021
There are 23 species native to the United States—from the tiny downy woodpecker that is only a few inches in length, to the giant pileated woodpecker that’s nearly the size of a crow.
—Outdoor Life, 26 Feb. 2021
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Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 16 May 2025
An American golden-plover in Winthrop, a pileated woodpecker at the Stony Brook Reservation, a Wilson’s warbler at McLaughlin Woods in the Mission Hill area, and a vesper sparrow at Millennium Park in West Roxbury.
—Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Nov. 2022
The page should have shown an American robin and pileated woodpecker.
—oregonlive, 16 Mar. 2021
There are 23 species native to the United States—from the tiny downy woodpecker that is only a few inches in length, to the giant pileated woodpecker that’s nearly the size of a crow.
—Outdoor Life, 26 Feb. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Pileated woodpecker.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pileated%20woodpecker. Accessed 30 Jul. 2025.
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