Wild woods green woodpecker

 

The green woodpecker is the largest of the three woodpeckers in Britain. They can be seen throughout England, Wales and south and east Scotland.  In flight the pointed shape of the head and tail and the short bursts of flapping interspersed with long swooping glides are characteristic. At rest they can be hard to find as they can perch motionless for many minutes and hide behind a branch.

Name
Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis)

Lifestyle
Habitat
They can be found mainly in mature broadleaved woodland, farmland, parks, large gardens and heaths and coastal dunes.
Breeding
They nest in mature trees, where they dig out a hole in the trunk or a big branch. The hole is about 50cm deep with a small 6cm opening, which can take up to three weeks to prepare. Both the adults share the duty of incubating and feeding the young.
They have just one brood a year (April to July), producing on average half a dozen eggs with an incubation period of 17-19 days.
Development
The young are ready to leave the nest in three weeks.

Diet
They feed on insects and are unique from the other species of woodpecker in that they will feed at ground level. This is because they eat ants, they use their stout beak and long tongue with a sticky tip to extract ants and pupae from ants nests.

Identification
A very striking bird, the green woodpecker is unmistakeable. It has green plumage, a striking red head and a yellow/green rump that is clearly visible during flight. They are a relatively heavy looking bird with a short tail, offset by a long, strong bill. To assist with climbing trees, the toes are arranged with two pointing forwards and two backwards. The Green woodpecker has an incredibly long tongue, which is around four times longer than its beak. This allows it to lick up insects hidden behind the bark of trees.

How we manage our woods
Maintaining large, mature broadleaves and large standing deadwood in our forests creates an ideal habitat for woodpeckers. It is also important that there are open areas adjacent to their nest sites. During the breeding season no harvesting or forest operations are carried out within 100 metres of a known nesting site. 

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Vital Statistics

Length: 31-33cm
Wingspan: 40-42cm
Weight: 180-220g
Age: 15 years.
UK numbers: 15,000 breeding pairs.