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Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) Alternate name(s): "Wryneck" German name(s): "Wendehals" Size: 16-18 cm; wing span: 25-27 cm Body mass: 30-45 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: ca. 0.32

Europe: Family Group 15 Family Group 15 Table Hoopoe Eurasian Wryneck Eurasian Treecreeper Short-toed Treecreeper Wallcreeper Black Woodpecker European Green Woodpecker Grey-headed Woodpecker Great Spotted Woodpecker Syrian Woodpecker Middle Spotted Woodpecker Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Eurasian Wrynecks are relatively small birds. Their plumage is highly cryptic. Their upperparts are grey, with copious streaks and scalloping in a cryptic pattern. Down the middle of the upperparts they have a dark stripe, the same colour as their dark-grey eye-stripes. The front is barred, dark-grey on buff on throat and neck, and dark-grey on white on the rest of the underparts. The wing coverts are more brownish-grey than the upperparts. They have very fine white supercilia above the eye-stripes. The irises are dark-brown. The short, straight pointy bill is grey. The legs and feet are also grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Eurasian Wryneck at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Eurasian Wryneck is available HERE . There are 6 extant races of Eurasian Wrynecks, which are a mostly migratory species, with only a few areas where they are sedentary. Their overall range spans large parts of Africa and Eurasia. Across the various races, the wintering range extends from sub-Saharan Africa (except the far-eastern part, near the Horn of Africa), almost all of the Indian subcontinent and all of tropical south-eastern Asia, to near the border of Thailand and Malaysia in the South, and to south-eastern China and southern Japan in the East. Their breeding range ecompasses much of Europe, the northern coastal fringe of Asia Minor, all of Asia between ca. 50-70 degrees latitude, plus parts of north-eastern China, Sakhalin and northern Japan, and an area to the West of the Himalayas. In Europe there are possibly up to 3 races of Eurasian Wrynecks. Nominate race "torquilla" populates most of Europe, from Iberia, Britain and Scandinavia eastward to the Urals. Only in Corsica, Italy, Dalmatia and parts of the Balkans, basically to the northern border of Greece, race "tschusii" is found. The north-western African race "mauretanica" may also be present on the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and parts of Sicily. Eurasian Wrynecks have a preference for open country with scattered (often prickly) shrubs, or open woodland with shrubs, similar to habitats preferred by various species of shrikes.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "torquilla" J. Pires reports spotting Eurasian Wrynecks, nominate race "torquilla", occasionally in the area from Mora, Evora, Portugal, to Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, and Coruche, Santarem, Portugal. M. Eaton found an Eurasian Wryneck, race "torquilla", at Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, in September 2019. Race "tschusii" A. Sarok reports spotting a Eurasian Wryneck, race "tschusii", in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024.

Photos

Race "torquilla"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Eurasian Wryneck (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, January 2018]

Lateral view of a Eurasian Wryneck calling from a high perch (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, May 2014]

Partly obscured near-dorsal view of a Eurasian Wryneck (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, September 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Eurasian Wryneck (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, September 2019]

Dorsal view of a Eurasian Wryneck looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

Dorsal view of a Eurasian Wryneck looking back at the observer (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

Dorsal view of a preening Eurasian Wryneck (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

Dorsal view of a Eurasian Wryneck (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, September 2019]

Dorsal view of a Eurasian Wryneck (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2018]

Eurasian Wryneck on a high perch, here in comparison with an European Goldfinch (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, May 2014]

Lateral/ventral view of a Eurasian Wryneck at take-off (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, September 2019]

Lateral view of a Eurasian Wryneck banking to land on the corner of a house wall (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2018]

Race "tschusii"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal/ventral view of a Eurasian Wryneck looking sideways (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Mostly migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary

In Europe, Eurasian Wrynecks are sedentary only in parts of southern Iberia, Catalunya and the Balearic islands. Elsewhere they are summer breeding migrants (or found on passage to their breeding areas).

Food, Diet

Eurasian Wrynecks feed primarily on ants.

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.

wryneck_jp_20251002.m4a

torquilla (Portugal)

?

© JP

More Eurasian Hoopoe 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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