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Bird

Pileated Woodpecker

Dryocopus pileatus

Lives in North Carolina all year and nests here. Found in all 100 counties, across 18 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 100 counties
Habitats
18

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 100 counties
Habitats
18
Habitat models
Year-round

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 18

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 18

Floodplain and bottomland forests

fallen (uprooted) tree
Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

Forests and woodlands

Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain.
Year-roundSouthern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Pine flatwoods

Georgia Pines
Year-roundCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsGeorge Inness, Georgia Pines (1890): tall, straight pines over an open, grassy floor in a south Georgia pine woods. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Georgia pine woods (George Inness, 1890; site not named), a neighboring state.Georgia Pines, George Inness (1825-1894), 1890. Public domain. Source record.

Rich cove forests

Cove hardwood forest
Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Spruce-fir forests

Spruce-fir forest
Year-roundRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointSpruce-fir forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70
Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

Swamps

View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

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.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

Year-roundSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

Year-round

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

Year-roundCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

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.

Year-roundDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"
Year-roundBeside its main habitat.Pasture/HayLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr)Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.
Other habitats in its models (100)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

In North Carolina 2

  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (51)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune 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.
  • Cumberland Sandstone Glade and Barrens Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope 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.
  • Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland 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.
  • South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Year-round.
  • Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest 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 - Hardwood Year-round.
  • Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier 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.
  • 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 Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine 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 Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier 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 Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium 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.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 100 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 11

Plant genera in its diet records (1)
  • Rubus Seeds. 1 diet record. 11 native plants in North Carolina

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, 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.

Pileated Woodpecker uses many habitats in North Carolina; these are its 3 most characteristic.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 71

Plants 367

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in North Carolina

Dry forests and woodlands

Birds 54

Plants 217

All of dry forests and woodlands in North Carolina

Swamps

Birds 70

Plants 329

All of swamps in North Carolina

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources