Page 260 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WOODPECKERS AND WRYNECK
Order Piciformes Family Picidae Species Dryocopus martius
Black Woodpecker

dagger-like pale
bill with dark tip
rounded wings
with fingered red only on back bold red cap
tips of head
white
eye
slim
neck

MALE

IN FLIGHT
glossy
black
asily the largest of the woodpeckers, plumage
Ebut not correspondingly any easier
to see, the Black Woodpecker is common
in woodland areas with big, mature beech
or pine trees. In winter, it wanders quite freely
through big gardens and suburban parks.
In much of Europe it is associated with FEMALE
mountainous areas, but it is common in the lowlands
of northwest Europe. It can usually be detected by its loud calls, tail used as prop
or its bursts of “machine-gun” drumming, but is usually shy and while perching
upright
not easy to approach.
VOICE Loud, high, plaintive, long pyuuu; loud, rolling, far-carrying MALE
krri-krri-krri-krri-krri; loud Green Woodpecker-like laugh, louder,
more irregular. Long, loud drumming.
NESTING Large oval
1
hole, 9 x 12cm (3 ⁄2 x
5in) in diameter, in big FLIGHT: direct, strong, not undulating; head up,
tree; 4–6 eggs; 1 brood; wings beat mostly below body level; swoops up to
April–June. perch with quick flurry.
FEEDING Digs insect
larvae from tree branches
and trunks and fallen HEAVY FLIGHT
timber; eats ants on Although large and heavy, the shape is typical thin-
ground. necked, square-winged woodpecker in flight.
SIMILAR SPECIES OCCURRENCE
Breeds widely from N Spain east
JACKDAW grey nape through France, north to
see p.368
Scandinavia; absent from most of
Italy, UK, and Iceland. Associated
smaller
with big trees in mature woods
blunt bill or clumps within patchy forest.
Wanders more widely in winter.
GREEN WOODPECKER 32
similar in silhouette; Seen in the UK
see p.259 JF M A M J JA S ON D
Length 40–46cm (16–18in) Wingspan 67–73cm (26–29in) Weight 250–370g (9–13oz)
Social Solitary Lifespan Up to 10 years Status Secure
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