Female green woodpecker by Elizabeth Dack 1/2
Green woodpecker by Elizabeth Dack 2/2

Green woodpecker Picus viridis

The green woodpecker is a large woodpecker about the same size as a dove. Green woodpeckers nest in holes that they excavate in trees in broadleaved woodlands, orchards, large parks and gardens. They can often be seen hopping about on the ground on pastures and lawns, looking for ants and invertebrates to eat but they also climb tree trunks and have barbed tongues to help them extract insects from crevices in the bark. Green woodpeckers have an undulating flight.

Conservation status

Classified in the UK as an Amber List species under the Birds of Conservation Concern review.

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