Bird

Pileated Woodpecker

Dryocopus pileatus

Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 20 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 20

Male Pileated Woodpecker, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Joe Brewer, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY 4.0. iNaturalist photo 502174715. Source-provided large resize; no crop or image edits.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 20
Habitat models: Year-round

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Virginia 20

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

1 of 20

Year-roundCumberland Sandstone Glade and BarrensBald Face above Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, North Carolina: a bare granite dome rising above forest and a still lake (photochrom print, about 1902). Shown: Bald Face (Big Bald Face) above Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, Jackson County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Bald Face from Lake Fairfield, Sapphire, N.C., Detroit Publishing Co. (photochrom print), c. 1902. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAppalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestHarvey Joiner, Woods Scene: tall beeches in a moist Kentucky woodland, light falling through a closed canopy onto a damp forest floor. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Kentucky beech woods (Harvey Joiner, Louisville painter of Kentucky beech forests; the painting does not name the site), a neighboring state.Woods Scene, Harvey Joiner, c. 1880-1920. Public domain. Source record.

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

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

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. Shown: North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt), a neighboring state.Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampWilliam McIlvaine, The Chickahominy Swamp (1862): wind-tossed swamp trees standing in dark water under a storm. Chickahominy Swamp, VirginiaThe Chickahominy Swamp LCCN2004661405, William McIlvaine (1813-1867), 1862. 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; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - 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 Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

Year-roundSouthern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.

Year-roundRidge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland

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-roundNortheastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Northern hardwood forests

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

Year-round

Pine flatwoods

Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.

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

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

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

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. Shown: Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr), a neighboring state.Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain", Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

Other habitats in its models (92)

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

In Virginia 2

Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.

Elsewhere in the South (49)

Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
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.
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.
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.
Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland 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.
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 (1)

North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods 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 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.
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 Virginia

Year-round: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.

County or city

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 9

Smooth Blackberry
Rubus canadensis
Shrub. Native
Black Raspberry
Rubus occidentalis
Shrub. Native
Southern Dewberry
Rubus trivialis
Vine. Native
Allegheny Blackberry
Rubus allegheniensis
Shrub. Native
Bristly Blackberry
Rubus setosus
Shrub. Native
Northern Dewberry
Rubus flagellaris
Shrub. Native
Pennsylvania Blackberry
Rubus pensilvanicus
Shrub. Native
Sand Blackberry
Rubus cuneifolius
Shrub. Native
Swamp Dewberry
Rubus hispidus
Shrub. Native

Plant genera in its diet records (1)

Rubus Seeds. 1 diet record. 9 native plants in Virginia

Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Virginia, 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 Virginia; these are its 3 most characteristic.