The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker found in Indiana; adults are about the size of a crow. The insect eaters can be identified by their zebra striped heads and necks and long bills. Their jackhammer rat-a-tat-tat can be head throughout the forest as they drill into trees seeking insect larvae leaving telltale piles of wood chips at the base of trees. The resulting cavities, often found in dead snags, can become home to owls, bats, squirrels and the woodpeckers themselves.
~photo by Tracie Kovener
