170 BULLETIN" 174, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



hammering on a tree trunk, its long neck and heavy head and beak 

 are conspicuous and distinctive. 



Winter. — Throughout most of its range the southern pileated wood- 

 pecker is a permanent resident; in fact, there is very little south- 

 ward movement for the species, even in the more northern portions 

 of its range, except for winter wanderings in search of a suitable 

 food supply. 



Vernon Sharpe, Jr. (1932), writing from Tennessee, says: "The 

 winter roosting place of this bird is rather interesting. A live hollow 

 tree is selected, and there two or more holes are dug, presumably with 

 the thought of using one for escape should any attack by some night 

 marauder take place. These roosting places are used year after 

 year; in fact, there is one site in the Overton Hills, south of Nash- 

 ville, that has been used for so many seasons it has become essential 

 for the woodpecker to cut away a portion of the tree that is trying 

 to heal over the cavity." 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — North America ; chiefly timbered regions east of the Great 

 Plains and from southern Mackenzie to western Montana and 

 California. 



The range of the pileated woodpecker extends north to northern 

 British Columbia (Buckley Lake and Thutade Lake) ; southern 

 Mackenzie (Fort Liard and Fort Smith) ; northern Saskatchewan 

 (Poplar Point) ; northeastern Ontario (Moose Factory) ; and south- 

 eastern Quebec (Godbout and Mont Louis Lake). East through 

 the wooded areas along the Atlantic coast to southeastern Florida 

 (Everglades, Royal Palm Hammock, and Key West). South along 

 the Gulf coasts of Florida, Mississippi, and Louisiana, to southeastern 

 Texas (San Point). The species is not known through the southern 

 Rocky Mountain and Great Basin regions, appearing next in central 

 California (Yosemite Valley and Napa County). From the latter 

 point it occurs north along the Pacific coast through Oregon and 

 Washington, to northwestern British Columbia (Hazelton and Buckley 

 Lake). 



The range above outlined is for the entire species, which has, how- 

 ever, been separated into four subspecies. The southern pileated 

 woodpecker {C. p. pileatus) is found in the Eastern United States 

 from central Texas and northern Florida north to Oklahoma, southern 

 Illinois, southern Indiana, southern Pennsylvania, and Maryland ; the 

 northern pileated w^oodpecker (C. p. abieticola), occupies the balance 

 of the range in Eastern North America, except for the peninsula of 

 Florida to which the Florida pileated woodpecker {C. p. foridanus) 

 is restricted. The western pileated woodpecker {C. p. picinus) is 

 found chiefly in the humid areas of the Northwest coast district but 



