19-11-2017 BILLERICAY, ESSEX - EUROPEAN GREEN WOODPECKER (Picus viridis)

The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis ) is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the western Palearctic but in Spain and Portugal it is replaced by the similar Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei ).

The European green woodpecker spends much of its time feeding on ants on the ground and does not often 'drum' on trees like other woodpecker species. Though its vivid green and red plumage is particularly striking, it is a shy bird, and is more often heard than seen, drawing attention with its loud calls. A nest hole is excavated in a tree; four to six eggs are laid which hatch after 19–20 days.

The European green woodpecker is a large green bird with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Despite its striking plumage, it is a shy bird and is more often heard than seen, drawing attention with its loud calls. Both the males and the females are green above and pale yellowish green below, with yellow rump and red crown and nape; the moustachial stripe has a red centre in the male but is solid black in the female. Juveniles are spotty and streaked all over; the moustache is dark initially, though juvenile males can show some red feathers by early June or usually by July or August.

European green woodpeckers are widely distributed in Europe but are absent from some northern and eastern parts and from Ireland, Greenland, and the Macaronesian Islands. They also occur in western Asia. European green woodpeckers don’t migrate and rarely move more than around 500 m between breeding seasons. They prefer old deciduous trees for nesting and nearby feeding grounds with plenty of ants. This is usually found in semi-open landscapes with small woodlands, hedges, scattered old trees, edges of forests, and floodplain forests. They prefer to forage in grasslands, heaths, plantations, orchards, and lawns.

European green woodpeckers can be seen alone, in pairs, or in company with their young. They are active during the day and spend much of their time feeding on ants on the ground and do not often 'drum' on trees like other woodpecker species. They feed mainly on the ground probing ant nests and licking up adult ants and their larvae. European woodpeckers have tongues that wrap to the back of their head. They often forage in short-grazed or mown permanent grasslands where the availability of ant nests is high. Although European green woodpeckers are shy and wary, they usually produce loud calls, known as yaffling, which first draw attention. They 'drum' rarely (a soft, fast roll), but often give a noisy ‘kyü-kyü-kyück’ while flying. The song is a loud series of 10–18 'klü' sounds which gets slightly faster towards the end and falls slightly in pitch. The females make a thinner ‘pü-pü-pü-pü-pü-pü-pü’.