That's why they prefer mature forests. Young timber stands simply don't have trees large enough to meet their needs. Older stands also provide the proper winter diet. During cold weather, pileateds eat large black carpenter ants that inhabit dead and decaying branches, logs and stumps. These ants are what pileateds are hunting when they visit an old stump and appear to tear it apart.
Younger forest stands lack large pieces of dead wood and the ants that inhabit it.
Pileated woodpeckers also eat a variety of other insects, fruits, berries and nuts. But pileateds are more often heard than seen. And their habit of drumming on resonant dead branches also attracts immediate attention. Both sounds carry far through the woods and help mated pairs communicate. These sounds also declare ownership of a territory that may exceed 200 acres.