With us humans having caused our two largest sized North American Woodpeckers(The Ivory-Billed and The Imperial Woodpeckers) to go extinct(via destroying their habitat and over hunting)in the early 20th century, the Pileated Woodpecker remains at the "top-of-the-leader board" as our largest remaining woodpecker.........Almost as large as the common Crow, The Pileated makes it home in coniferous forests and ranges from Canada's British Columbia all the way east to Nova Scotia, down the western coast of the USA from Washington to California and east to Idaho and North Dakota............It still occupies most of the eastern half of the USA as well............."The Pileated eats insects, fruits, nuts carpenter ants and beetle larvae"................ "It uses its sharp bill to pull bark off a tree to expose ant colonies"............."It uses its long, sticky tongue to poke into holes and drag out the ants".............. "It also digs out large rectangular holes in trees to create roosting and nesting spots and to expose insects"..........."A new Study by U. of Washington researchers has determined that even with rapidly growing exurban human settlements encroaching upon Pileated Forest habitat, if we retain at least 20% forest cover, including standing dead trees over large suburban areas, we may help sustain Pileated Woodpeckers and perhaps even other species tied to them"................"Despite potential risks from threats such as feral cats and collisions with windows, the researchers believe that cities can play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity".............."As suburban sprawl becomes more and more ubiquitous, it's imperative that we consider which specific yard features we can enhance to share our neighborhoods with wildlife"

https://phys.org/news/2018-08-woodpeckers-coexist-seattle.html

Woodpeckers and development coexist in Seattle

August 22, 2018, American Ornithological Society

The two largest woodpeckers in North America, the Imperial Woodpecker and Ivory-billed Woodpecker, are believed to have gone extinct during the twentieth century. Can their surviving cousin, the Pileated Woodpecker, persist when standing dead trees and other crucial resources are lost to urbanization? A new study published by The Condor: Ornithological Applications tracked birds in suburban Seattle and found that as long as tree cover remains above a certain threshold, Pileated Woodpeckers and housing developments can coexist.

Pileated Woodpeckers peek from a tree cavity in suburban Seattle. Credit: J. Tomasevic

 Bottom two pictures of adult Pileated Woodpeckers

The University of Washington's Jorge Tomasevic (now at the Universidad Austral de Chile) and John Marzluff trapped and radio-tagged 16 Pileated Woodpeckers at 9 sites with varying degrees of urbanization in suburban Seattle. Tracking each bird for about a year, they found that Pileated Woodpeckers used not only forested areas such as parks, but also lightly and moderately urbanized areas where some trees had been retained, taking advantage of resources such as backyard 
birdfeeders.


Pileated Woodpecker range

These results show that retaining at least 20% forest cover, including standing dead trees, over large suburban areas may help sustain Pileated Woodpeckers and perhaps even other species tied to them. Despite potential risks from threats such as feral cats and collisions with windows, the researchers believe that cities can play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity.

 Historically our two largest Wood Peckers, The Ivory-Billed(top) and Imperial(bottom) Wood Peckers-now extinct

 "You'd think that such large bird would be easy to find, especially when carrying a transmitter, but they did a very good job hiding," says Tomasevic. "It was also very challenging to work in populated areas. I have so many anecdotes, good and bad, about dealing with people and people dealing with me doing my work. Some people were very friendly, but some were a little nervous with me walking around the neighborhood. I tried to look as official as possible, with University of Washington logos on my jacket, and I created a website for the project and printed some business cards. It was a great opportunity to do outreach, and I'm still friends with some of the neighborhood residents."

The historical ranges of  what were our two largest woodpeckers
the Ivory-Billed(top pic) and Imperial
Woodpecker(bottom pic) prior to us driving them to extinction

"As suburban sprawl becomes more and more ubiquitous, it's imperative that we consider which specific yard features can be promoted to share our neighborhoods with wildlife," according to the University of Delaware's Desiree Narango, an expert on avian urban ecology. "This paper is a nice example showing that even a mature forest specialist can use and navigate the suburban landscape if we provide the resources they need: large trees and some retained wooded areas."

 Explore further: Infographic: Why don't woodpeckers get headaches?

More information: "Use of suburban landscapes by the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)" The Condor: Ornithological Applications DOI: 10.1650/CONDOR-17-171.1