You are most likely to see a pileated in thick forest near a river or lake. Look up high in tall trees, especially dead ones, and you might spot a large hole that a pair of pileated woodpeckers made in early spring to raise a brood of chicks. The parents sit on three or four glossy white eggs to keep them warm. After about 18 days, the eggs hatch. The blind, featherless hatchlings open their mouths and beg for food.
Carpenter ants are a favorite food of pileated woodpeckers.
Downy Woodpecker Downy woodpeckers are the smallest of Minnesota s woodpeckers. Only downy and hairy woodpeckers have a white back. To tell them apart, look for a smaller beak on the downy and little black marks on its white tail feathers. Hairy Woodpecker Hairy woodpeckers live all over Minnesota. In late winter the male joins the female in a breeding territory.