Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) lives in open woodland across Europe and Western Asia. It feeds on ants and insects. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Hear the Eurasian Green Woodpecker
A real field recording of the Eurasian Green Woodpecker, made in the wild.
Fascinating facts about the Eurasian Green Woodpecker
Ants are the green woodpecker's pantry: a Romanian nest study recorded ten ant species fed to the chicks, with each youngster gobbling an average of 15 g in the first ten days, 39.5 g from days 10-20 and 49.3 g after day 20. Across a brood of seven, that adds up to an estimated 1.5 million ants and pupae before fledging. the bird's long 10-cm tongue and sticky saliva.
Across Europe and western Asia the green woodpecker occupies between 1 million and 10 million km², supporting a global population estimated at 920 000 to 2.9 million birds. More than three-quarters of its range lies in Europe, with over half the individuals clustered in France and Germany. The species is highly sedentary, adults typically shift no more than about 500 m between breeding seasons.
The breeding cycle is a tightly timed relay: the female lays four to six eggs, each 31 mm × 23 mm and weighing 8.9 g (7 % shell). Both parents share incubation duties for 19-20 days, swapping shifts of 1.5-2.5 hours. After hatching, naked chicks stay in the nest for 21-24 days before fledging, a period during which they are fed the massive ant bounty described earlier.
At just over a foot long, the European green woodpecker stretches to 36 cm and fans a wingspan of up to 51 cm. That size lets it glide in short bursts of three to four wingbeats before a brief glide.
A male green woodpecker spends up to a month (15-30 days) chiselling a nesting cavity that can be as deep as 40 cm and 150 mm wide, with an entrance opening of 60 mm × 75 mm.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
As the Eurasian Green Woodpecker alights upon the sun-dappled forest floor, its iridescent plumage shimmers like a fragment of emerald, a fleeting glimpse of a bird that embodies the very essence of the woodland realm. With a gentle, undulating flight, it moves through the trees, its laughter-like call echoing through the stillness, a joyful sound that belies the bird's formidable drumming abilities, which it uses to excavate insect larvae from the bark of ancient trees. In this tranquil, arboreal world, the Eurasian Green Woodpecker reigns supreme, a master of subtlety and stealth, its existence a testament to the enduring beauty of the natural world.
Advertisement
Hear the Eurasian Green Woodpecker, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
