In 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he included the pileated woodpecker, coined the binomial name Picus pileatus. The specific epithet pileatus is a Latin word meaning "-capped".



The Pileated woodpecker is the largest woodpecker found in North America. This woodpecker is about 16-19 inches in length and looks as big as a crow. Their bill acts like a chisel to chip wood away to make their homes in trunks of large trees.