Pileated Jay

Scientific Name – The scientific name of pileated jay wood pecker is Dryocopus pileatus meaning ‘crested tree hitter’ in English.

Origin – The Pileated Jay jay is found in Canada, Western part of Washington, Northern California and eastern part of USA. The bird’s natural habitat is open spaced coniferous forests where mostly old pine trees stand.

Description – This woodpecker is of exceptionally large size almost as big as a crow. They are more than 40 cms long and weigh around 400 grms. In pine forests one can easily recognize the birds by its large size along with flashing white colored wing bars. The wind span of the bird is 66-75 cms. The juvenile birds differ from their adults by having smaller sized crests and brown eyes.

Cock – A prominent red colored crest on top of the head. A striking red line is present from the bill of the bird to the throat. The color of the body is generally black with white stripes on it from face to neck. The wings have also some traces of white plumage along with the throat of the bird as well. The bill of the bird is silvery gray in color, the eyes are yellow and the feet are grayish black.

Hen – The hen has also a red crest at the top of the head. In case of a female the color of the line from the bill to the throat is black instead of red as in male.

Diet – The bird mainly feeds on foods like beetle larvae and carpenter ants that are found in plenty in snags or dead tree plants. The bird also lives on fruits like berries and nuts.

Breeding – They breed in monogamous pairs. For nesting they seek out for a melon sized hole in the tree trunks. They generally lay a clutch of four eggs in a single season. They usually mate during the spring season. Both the birds take part in brooding of the eggs and also feeding and rearing the young ones.

During the nesting season this specie of bird is highly territorial in nature. They are quite aggressive on other passers by birds. But during the winter season they can tolerate other flights of birds to an extent. Interesting facts related to Pileated Jay

• The bird produces a call sounding like a staccato ‘laugh’ while in flight.
• They generally stay confined to a demarcated territory throughout the year.
• The bird is the largest sized wood pecker in North America.
• The nest or the hole where the wook pecker resides has several entrance holes.
• To mark their territory they generally make a sound by pecking the tree trunks with their bills.
• The sound made by the bird while making a hole on the tree trunks are quite loud and can be heard for long distances.
• The bird has the tendency of making huge holes in very large trees. Such big holes in small trees may break the tree into two.