European Green Woodpecker

Identification

A large woodpecker coloured mostly in olive green, with a pale grey face, a crimson crown and a bright yellow-green rump that flashes as it flies. The underparts are a dull yellowish grey, finely barred on the flanks, and the wings are tinged with brown. The sexes are separated by the 'moustache' stripe below the eye: red with a black border in the male, entirely black in the female. Young birds are heavily spotted and streaked below and lack the solid crown.

It is an ant specialist and spends much of its time on the ground, probing lawns and anthills with a tongue that extends around 10 cm beyond the bill and is tipped with sticky saliva. Ants and their pupae form the bulk of the diet, with other insects taken in passing; its bill is comparatively weak for a woodpecker and it rarely excavates timber, cutting its nest hole into soft or decaying wood, often a fruit tree, and returning to the same site for years. The voice is unmistakable — a loud, laughing series of descending notes usually written as 'yaffle' — and it drums only seldom, mostly a soft tapping that carries barely a few metres.

Look for it in open woodland, hedgerows, old orchards, parks and large gardens with short grass, because the ants it depends on are scarce under dense canopy. It feeds on the ground more than any other European woodpecker, so scan lawns and path edges in the early morning, and listen for the far-carrying yaffle, which is most frequent from late winter into spring. In flight it undulates deeply, showing the yellow rump against dark wings.

An ant specialist on the lawn

This is the most terrestrial of the European woodpeckers. It feeds largely on ants and their pupae, which it extracts from lawns and anthills with a tongue that extends around 10 cm beyond the bill and carries sticky saliva at the tip. Insects and larvae taken in passing make up the rest of the diet, along with some fruit and seeds in autumn.

Because its bill is comparatively weak for a woodpecker, it rarely excavates timber. Nest holes are cut into soft or decaying wood, often a fruit tree or a dead branch, and the same site may be reused for years. The dependence on ants is the key to finding it: short grass with plenty of anthills is what it needs, and dense canopy with little ground vegetation is not.

The yaffle and the drum

The voice is unmistakable and carries a long way: a loud, laughing series of descending notes usually rendered as yaffle, often given in flight between feeding sites. It is heard most frequently from late winter into spring, when birds are re-establishing territories and pairs are calling to each other.

Drumming is rare in this species and, when it happens, is a soft, brief tapping that carries only a few metres - quite different from the ringing roll of a Great Spotted Woodpecker. The other common call is a sharp alarm note, often repeated, given when a cat, a dog or a person comes too close to a feeding bird.

Confusion risks

The olive-green body with a crimson crown, pale grey face and bright yellow-green rump is unlike anything else in Europe. The main difficulty is separating the sexes: the moustache stripe below the eye is red with a black border in the male and entirely black in the female. Juveniles are heavily spotted and streaked below and lack a solid crown.

The species it is most often compared with abroad is the Northern Flicker of North America, which shares the ground-feeding, ant-eating habit but shows a white rump, a brown barred back and, in eastern birds, a red crescent on the nape. In Europe, check flight silhouette: the deep undulation and the flash of the yellow rump against dark wings are conclusive.

Where and when to look

Open woodland, hedgerows, old orchards, parkland and large gardens with short grass are the places to look. Early morning is the best time, when birds are feeding on the ground and can be scanned along lawn edges and paths; listen for the yaffle and work towards it rather than trying to walk the whole site.

Late winter and spring are the loudest period. In summer, family parties become conspicuous as noisy young birds follow the adults and beg. In flight the bird undulates deeply, showing the yellow rump and the dark wings - a silhouette quite different from the bounding, straighter flight of a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Fieldcraft and conservation notes

The main practical threat in gardens and parks is lawn treatment. Ants are the species' staple food, and a lawn treated with insecticide removes the food supply from a whole territory; leaving part of a lawn untreated, or tolerating anthills, is a direct benefit.

Never approach a nest hole closely. Like all woodpeckers the species is protected in most of its range, and a pair that is disturbed at the nest may desert. Watch from a distance, and report the site to the local recording scheme if you find a nest - the species is patchily distributed and local records are useful.