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Pileated woodpeckers are giants in the North American bird world. They are the largest of the woodpecker species, previously being second to the ivory billed woodpecker that, sadly, is now believed to be extinct. Pileated woodpeckers delight nature lovers and bird enthusiasts with their gorgeous red plumage. Pileated woodpeckers are large and heavy birds. They use their great strength and enormous bills to fragment dead trees rapidly to get at insect larvae inside. They have long tongues which they use as spears to pull the grubs and larva from their hiding spots. A full grown pileated can smash through a dead tree trunk in minutes if it finds food inside the wood. Healthy trees are rarely infested and woodpeckers have no reason to peck holes in a tree that is not already in trouble. For this reason, they are beneficial to the forest, speeding the decay of diseased and rotting logs.