Q: I live in the woods on 2 bass ponds. I often see pileated woodpeckers in my front yard. Are they endangered? They look much like the ivory bill. Is there a connection? Thanks, I love your site. -- Rose

A: Hi, Rose, thanks for your kind words about the EcoFlorida site. How lucky for you to see pileated woodpeckers on a regular basis.

As far as I can tell, pileateds aren't endangered. Other than the ivory-billed woodpecker you mentioned (which some people believe is downright extinct), the only endangered woodpecker in Florida is the red-cockaded woodpecker, most commonly seen in Apalachicola National Forest near Tallahassee.

You're right about the pileated looking similar to the ivory-billed, although the pileated is smaller (yet still the largest woodpecker in Florida). All woodpeckers in Florida, plus flickers and sapsuckers, are scientifically in the same family (Picidae). But ivory-billed woodpeckers are in a different scientific genus, Campephilus ("caterpillar loving"), in which there are a few other woodpeckers from Mexico and Central and South America.

I most recently saw pileated woodpeckers at Highlands Hammock State Park in Sebring and, interestingly enough, ivory-billed woodpeckers also lived at Highlands Hammock relatively recently. There is also a place in Louisiana where biologists are looking for ivory-billed woodpeckers, hoping that the bird isn't truly extinct.

Enjoy watching woodpeckers and other birds in your yard!

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