5 things you might not know about the green woodpecker

3 min read
5 things you might not know about the green woodpecker

The green woodpecker is the largest of our three British woodpeckers, and the one least likely to be tapping on a tree. It is far more likely to be on your lawn, and it is full of surprises.

1. Its tongue is about ten centimetres long

A green woodpecker's tongue is around ten centimetres long, and it has to curl around the back of the skull to fit. It is sticky thanks to enlarged salivary glands, and ideal for lapping up ants.

2. Seven chicks ate 1.5 million ants

In a study of one nest in Romania, ten species of ant were fed to the chicks, and the seven chicks were estimated to have eaten about 1.5 million ants and pupae before leaving the nest. In Britain a radio-tracking study found that where green woodpeckers feed depends strongly on how many yellow meadow ants there are, which thrive in short, species-rich grass such as sheep-grazed fields and old lawns. That is why you see them on lawns.

3. One dug eighty-five centimetres through snow

In a hard winter, a green woodpecker was seen digging through eighty-five centimetres of snow to reach an ant nest. Heavy, prolonged snow can cause high mortality, and the population may take ten years to recover.

4. They hardly ever drum

Unlike other woodpeckers, green woodpeckers rarely drum, and when they do it is a soft, fast roll. Their song is a series of ten to eighteen laughing klü sounds that get faster and slightly lower in pitch. When I heard a recording for the first time I realised it's a sound I hear on walks every day.

5. The male digs the home

The male does most of the excavating, over fifteen to thirty days, producing a cavity up to forty centimetres deep. Some holes have been used for more than ten years, though not always by the same pair. Adults rarely move more than 500 metres between breeding seasons.

A little green woodpecker folklore

The green woodpecker has been called the yaffle bird and Laughing Betsy because of its call, and the rain bird, weather cock and wet bird because people thought its cry predicted rain. Some say the druids used it for water divination, and it has been linked with wishes, luck and prosperity by a number of ancient cultures.

The Picentes tribe treated the woodpecker as a totem, and the Greek writer Strabo wrote that it was considered sacred to Mars. The wooden bookend Professor Yaffle in the 1974 children's series Bagpuss was loosely based on the bird.

What green woodpeckers like to eat, and where

Green woodpeckers feed mainly on ants, so the best thing you can do is leave part of your lawn unmown and avoid treating it with chemicals. They are shy of feeders, but you might be lucky: our seasonal bird food in a Little Lantern seed feeder will bring other birds to the garden, and the green woodpecker may follow. If you are not sure which feeder suits your garden, our feeding quiz will point you in the right direction.

Want to keep track of the green woodpeckers in your garden? Amidst the Birdsong: A Garden Birdwatcher's Journal is made for exactly that.

Want to read about more garden birds? See all the birds in this series.

While you're here

Because there's always something worth knowing about the birds in your garden.
Clare Cahill

Thank you for reading!

Clare Cahill is a bird enthusiast with a passion for observing and learning. While she definitely doesn’t have a formal degree in ornithology, Clare has dedicated hours to reading birding books and exploring nature, constantly expanding her knowledge and deepening her love for wildlife.

For Clare, birdwatching brings a sense of calm and connection to the world, offering a peaceful escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. She believes that the more we connect with nature, the more we can do to protect and conserve it. Through her writing, Clare hopes to inspire others to take a moment to pause, look up, and appreciate the calm and connection that comes from letting a little wildness into our everyday lives.

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