England’s Three Species of Drumming Woodpeckers
Woodpeckers are often heard in the forests, when they drill their beaks against tree trunks to find insects and attract mates (they have in-built crash helmets, to prevent them getting headaches!)
These wonderful birds rely on mature trees and dead wood, which is why it’s so important to save our forests. Even ‘dead trees’ are not really dead (rotten bark provides good hunting ground for food, and a place for nests).
And when birds abandon the nests after rearing chicks, the tree holes are often used by bats, owls and bees. Nature in balance.
Woodland birds rarely visit gardens. Learn how to create safe havens for garden birds, and how to stop birds flying into windows.
England’s Three Species of Woodpeckers
Great Spotted Woodpecker is the most common, found in trees, parks and mature woodland year-round. It has striking black-and-white feathers, with a splash of red under the tale (males have a bright red patch on the back of their heads, to show off even more!)
Their powerful beaks help them peck into tree bark, to search for insects, larvae and spiders.
Green woodpeckers are olive, with bright yellow rumps and again bright red crowns. But these birds prefer to hunt for ants and insects on the ground and in meadows, rather than in trees. Rather than ‘drumming trees’, they leave neat little nest holes in tree trunks, ideal homes for other wild creatures.
The green woodpecker flies like a madman up and down, up and down. And when he’s not banging that beak away at a tree, he’s calling loud with his piercing ‘yaffle laugh. So what makes him such an extrovert?
Maybe it’s the extra long tongue he hides in his beak? Apparently it can stretch the length of his body to reach bores, beetles and weevils. Personally I think he’s be more at home with a can of lager and a kebab! Matt Sewell
Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are much smaller (and rarer), no bigger than sparrows. They have black and white markings (and again males have a red crown). They only live in mature woodlands, often high up to feed on insects within bark.
