Wryneck

Jynx torquilla

SIZE AND DESCRIPTION

17cm. Small, peculiar member of the woodpecker family, with cryptic brown and grey plumage patterned to resemble tree bark. Short bill, rather long tail, and habit of raising crown feathers and twisting the neck.

VOICE

Has ringing ‘quee-quee-quee’ song but usually silent in Britain.

HABITAT

Summer visitor to most of Europe but in Britain only as a scarce passage migrant, mainly in scrub or light woodland along east coasts in autumn, following easterly winds.

FOOD AND HABITS

Feeds mainly on ants but also takes other insects. Feeds on ground, moving with slow hopping gait. Migrants can sometimes be very approachable.

Green Woodpecker

Picus viridis

SIZE AND DESCRIPTION

33cm. Green plumage, but with a distinctive yellow rump and a red cap. Juvenile is speckled and appears more grey. A pale eye and black face and moustachial stripe give the bird a ‘fierce’ appearance. Male has a red centre to his moustachial stripe, while female’s is black. Flight is deeply undulating.

VOICE

An unmistakable shrill laughing call. Rarely drums.

HABITAT

Resident in Britain and western Europe. Nests in tree holes but forages in open habitats including coastal meadows where there are plentiful anthills.

FOOD AND HABITS

Feeds on insect grubs and ants, for which it probes soil and rotten wood. Often seen feeding on large open areas of grass. Nests in a hole made in a tree.