European green woodpecker

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European green woodpecker
Female
Yaffle call of the Green Woodpecker, recorded in Surrey in 1977

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Picus
Species:
P. viridis
Binomial name
Picus viridis
Range
Synonyms

Gecinus viridis[2]

European green woodpecker (Switzerland) eating

The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis) is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the western Palearctic but in Spain and Portugal it is replaced by the similar Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei).

The European green woodpecker spends much of its time feeding on ants on the ground and does not often 'drum' on trees like other woodpecker species. Though its vivid green and red plumage is particularly striking, it is a shy bird, and is more often heard than seen, drawing attention with its loud calls. A nest hole is excavated in a tree; four to six eggs are laid which hatch after 19–20 days.

Taxonomy

The European green woodpecker was

Picidae.[6]

There are three subspecies,[6] with subtle and mostly clinal differences between them.[7]

The

molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2011.[6][8][9]

Description

The European green woodpecker measures 30–36 cm (12–14 in) in length with a 45–51 cm (18–20 in) wingspan. Both sexes are green above and pale yellowish green below, with yellow rump and red crown and nape; the moustachial stripe has a red centre in the male but is solid black in the female. The lores and around the white eye are black in both male and female, except in the Iberian race P. v. subsp. sharpei, in which it is dark grey and males have only a lower black border to the moustache. Juveniles are spotty and streaked all over;[10] the moustache is dark initially, though juvenile males can show some red feathers by early June or usually by July or August.[7]

Moult takes place between June and November with the first flight feathers being lost around the time the young fledge. Juveniles moult quickly after fledging and gain their adult plumage between August and November.[11]

Although the European green woodpecker is shy and wary, it is usually its loud calls, known as yaffling, which first draw attention. It 'drums' rarely (a soft, fast roll), but often gives a noisy kyü-kyü-kyück while flying. The song is a loud series of 10–18 'klü' sounds which gets slightly faster towards the end and falls slightly in pitch.[10] The female makes a thinner pü-pü-pü-pü-pü-pü-pü.[12] The flight is undulating, with 3–4 wingbeats followed by a short glide when the wings are held by the body.[13]

It can be distinguished from the similar, but smaller,

golden oriole, though the latter is smaller and more slender with narrower wings and longer tail. The closely related,[13] very similar Levaillant's woodpecker occurs only in north-west Africa.[10]

Distribution and habitat

Juvenile
Call of the European green woodpecker

More than 75% of the range of the European green woodpecker is in

Macaronesian Islands, but otherwise distributed widely. Over half of the European population is thought to be in France and Germany, with substantial numbers also in United Kingdom, Sweden, Russia, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria.[14] It also occurs in western Asia.[13]

The European green woodpecker has a large range and an Estimated Global Extent of Occurrence of between 1 million to 10 million square kilometres, and a population in the region of 920,000 to 2.9 million birds. Populations appear to be stable, so the species is considered of Least Concern.[15] The species is highly sedentary[12] and individuals rarely move more than around 500 m between breeding seasons.[13]

A combination of old deciduous trees for nesting, and nearby feeding grounds with plenty of

Behaviour

Breeding

MHNT

The nesting hole is larger but similar to those of the other woodpeckers. It may be a few feet above the ground or at the top of a tall tree;

willows and fruit trees are the preferred nest trees in western and central Europe, and aspens in the north.[14] The hole may be excavated in sound or rotten wood, with an entrance hole of 60 mm × 75 mm (2.4 in × 3.0 in). The cavity inside may be 150 mm wide and up to 40 cm (16 in) deep[16] and the work is performed mostly by the male over 15–30 days. Some tree holes are used for breeding for more than 10 years, but not necessarily by the same pair.[13]

There is a single brood of four to six white eggs, measuring 31 mm × 23 mm (1.22 in × 0.91 in) and weighing 8.9 g (0.31 oz) each, of which 7% is shell. After the last egg is laid, they are incubated for 19–20 days by both parents taking shifts of between 1.5 and 2.5 hours.

altricial at hatching and fledge after 21–24 days.[17]

Food and feeding

The main food of the European green woodpecker is ants of the genera Lasius and Formica[15] for which it spends much of its time foraging on the ground,[10] though other insects and small reptiles are also taken occasionally.[13] The bird's distinctive, elongated, cylindrical droppings often consist entirely of ant remains.[16] At ant nests, it probes into the ground and licks up adult ants and their larvae.[13] They have tongues that wrap to the back of their head.[18] Green woodpeckers will often forage in short grazed or mown permanent grasslands where the availability of ant nests is high.[19]

Dropping opened to show ant remains

A study of a nest in Romania found that 10 species of ant were fed to the chicks. During the first 10 days, the young received an average of 15 g (0.53 oz) each, from days 10–20, 39.5 g (1.39 oz), and from day 20, 49.3 g (1.74 oz). The seven chicks consumed an estimated 1.5 million ants and pupae before leaving the nest.[13]

The beak is relatively weak and used for pecking in soft wood only.[13] In common with other woodpecker species,[20] the green woodpecker's tongue is long (10 cm) and has to be curled around its skull.[17] It lacks the barbs of the Dendrocopos woodpeckers and black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius),[13] but is made sticky by secretions from the enlarged salivary glands.[13] Heavy, prolonged snow cover makes feeding difficult for the green woodpecker and can result in high mortality, from which it may take 10 years for the population to recover.[15] Ant nests can be located under the snow; one bird was observed to dig 85 cm to reach a nest.[13]

In culture

'Professor Yaffle', the wooden

Italic tribe of the Picentes,[27] and features of the coat of arms and flag of the Italian region of the Marches.[28]

References

  1. . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. .
  3. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 113.
  4. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1948). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 6. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 131.
  5. .
  6. ^ . IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  7. ^ .
  8. .
  9. .
  10. ^ .
  11. .
  12. ^ .
  13. ^ .
  14. ^ .
  15. ^ a b c d "Eurasian Green Woodpecker". Datazone. BirdLife International. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  16. ^ .
  17. ^ a b R. A. Robinson. "Green Woodpecker". BirdFacts. British Trust for Ornithology. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  18. JSTOR 4084060
    .
  19. ^ Alder, D., & Marsden, S. (2010). Characteristics of feeding‐site selection by breeding Green Woodpeckers Picus viridis in a UK agricultural landscape. Bird study, 57(1), 100–107.
  20. ^ "Woodpecker". Wild animals. HowStuffWorks.com. 2008-04-22. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  21. ^ Alistair McGown. "Bagpuss (1974)". BFI Screenonline. British Film Institute. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  22. ^ "Woodpeckers (Family Picidae)". BirdFacts. British Trust for Ornithology. Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  23. ^ Greenoak, Francesca (1979). All the Birds of the Air. London: Book Club Associates.
  24. ^ "Yaffle". www.worldwidewords.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  25. ^ "Stamps showing European Green Woodpecker Picus viridis". Theme Birds on Stamps. Kjell Scharning. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  26. ^ Woodpecker Cider Archived 2013-07-28 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 17 November 2011
  27. ^ Strabo. "Book V, Chapter 4, Sections 2 and 12". Geography. The Picentini are originally from the Sabine country, a woodpecker having led the way ... and hence their name, for they call this bird 'picus', and consider it sacred to Mars
  28. ^ Vagnat, Pascal (22 September 1998). "Marche Region (Italy)". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.

Further reading

External links

Media related to Picus viridis at Wikimedia Commons