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15

European Green Woodpecker

(Picus viridis)
Alternate name(s): "Eurasian Green Woodpecker", "Green Woodpecker"
German name(s): "Grünspecht"

Size: 30-36 cm; wing span: 45-51 cm
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See European Green Woodpecker at Wikipedia .

Click here for classification information

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

Race "viridis"

ADULT

MALE

Lateral view of a male European Green Woodpecker - note the red centre of the dark cheek patch; this bird was caught to be ringed and released again (photo courtesy of S. Cuturilov)
[Ovcarsko-Kablarski Canyon, near Cacak, Serbia, October 2017]

Lateral view of a male European Green Woodpecker (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, Masovia, Poland, July 2018]

Dorsal view of a male European Green Woodpecker (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, Masovia, Poland, July 2018]

FEMALE

Near-lateral portrait of a female European Green Woodpecker - note the absence of red in the cheek patch
(photo courtesy of G. Normand)
[Pere Lachaise cemetery, 20th district, Paris, France, December 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a female European Green Woodpecker foraging on the ground in snowy conditions
(photo courtesy of M. Thomas)
[Eltville, Hessen, Germany, December 2017]

Race "sharpei"

This race is also called the "Iberian Green Woodpecker".

ADULT

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male European Green Woodpecker - note the red cheek patch (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Quinta de los Molinos Park, Madrid, Spain, November 2019]

Lateral view of a male European Green Woodpecker (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Quinta de los Molinos Park, Madrid, Spain, November 2019]

Lateral view of a male European Green Woodpecker (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Quinta de los Molinos Park, Madrid, Spain, November 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a male European Green Woodpecker (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Quinta de los Molinos Park, Madrid, Spain, November 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a male European Green Woodpecker (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Quinta de los Molinos Park, Madrid, Spain, November 2019]

FEMALE

Lateral view of a female European Green Woodpecker - note the black cheek patch (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Casa de Campo Park, Madrid, Spain, December 2019]

Behaviour

European Green Woodpeckers spend a lot of time foraging on the ground (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Kiedrich, Hessen, Germany, March 2021]

Food, Diet

European Green Woodpeckers feed mainly on various species of ants, which are also fed to the young. Occasionally, insects and small lizards are taken.

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

grwoodp_dw_20180412.m4a viridis(?) (Poland) Territorial calls(?) © DW

More European Green Woodpecker sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.