Bird
Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
Lives in Alabama all year and nests here. Found in all 67 counties, across 15 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 15

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 67 counties
- Habitats
- 15
- Habitat models
- Year-round
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Alabama 15
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.



Streams, rivers and their banks


Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops
Bare or thin-soil rock on granite, gneiss, sandstone, quartzite and similar acidic rock, including granite flatrocks and domes.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Tree plantations and managed pine
Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Other habitats in its models (95)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Alabama. Those recorded in Alabama first, the rest by region.
In Alabama 1
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (47)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Year-round.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- Central and Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest Year-round.
- Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Year-round.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Year-round.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Year-round.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Year-round.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Year-round.
- South Florida Cypress Dome Year-round.
- South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Year-round.
- South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- South Florida Pine Rockland Year-round.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Year-round.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Year-round.
- Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Catahoula Barrens Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
Northeast (7)
- Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Year-round.
- Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Midwest (6)
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Year-round.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Year-round.
Land cover and other classes (34)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Year-round.
- Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Year-round.
- Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Year-round.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.
- The model allows small openings within a larger forested patch.
Seasons in Alabama
- Year-round: nests here, in all 67 counties.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 7
- Black RaspberryRubus occidentalis
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Allegheny BlackberryRubus allegheniensis
- Northern DewberryRubus flagellaris
- Pennsylvania BlackberryRubus pensilvanicus
- Sand BlackberryRubus cuneifolius
- Swamp DewberryRubus hispidus
Plant genera in its diet records (1)
- Rubus Seeds. 1 diet record. 7 native plants in Alabama
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Alabama, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 88
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Wilson's WarblerWilsonia pusilla
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
Plants 418
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- White Panicled Aster; Eastern Lined AsterSymphyotrichum lanceolatum var. latifolium
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia umbrosa
- Rudbeckia fulgida var. spathulataRudbeckia spathulata
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spruce Pine; Walters Pine; Cedar PinePinus glabra
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 65
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
Plants 224
- Chestnut OakQuercus montana
- Georgia OakQuercus georgiana
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Boynton's OakQuercus boyntonii
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Painted SedgeCarex picta
- Ernests SpiderwortTradescantia ernestiana
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsa
- Alabama SkullcapScutellaria alabamensis
Swamps
Birds 86
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Reddish EgretEgretta rufescens
- Tricolored HeronEgretta tricolor
- AnhingaAnhinga anhinga
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- RedheadAythya americana
Plants 327
- Black Highbush BlueberryVaccinium fuscatum
- Dahoon HollyIlex cassine
- May HawthornCrataegus aestivalis
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Swamp TupeloNyssa biflora
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Collins's SedgeCarex collinsii
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Dark-green SedgeCarex venusta
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP year-round habitat model for Pileated Woodpecker
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus


























































