Black Woodpecker

The Black Woodpecker is a huge, crow-sized woodpecker, almost entirely glossy black except for a bold red patch on the crown. Males show red across the entire crown from bill to nape, while females have red restricted to the back of the head.

A specialist of extensive old-growth forest, it excavates large, distinctive rectangular holes in tree trunks while searching for wood-boring insects, and its nest cavities are subsequently used by many other forest species.

Key field marks

• Large, crow-sized woodpecker, entirely glossy black
• Red crown patch: full crown in males, nape only in females
• Pale ivory-colored bill
• Deep, undulating flight with slow wingbeats
• Loud, far-carrying calls and powerful drumming

Similar species

• No other European woodpecker approaches its size or all-black plumage; a jackdaw or crow lacks the red crown and has a very different bill and flight.

Its great size and uniform black plumage make the Black Woodpecker unmistakable within its range.

Habitat

Requires extensive mature forest, both coniferous and deciduous, with large old trees suitable for excavating its sizeable nest and roost holes.

Range

Found across much of continental Europe from the Pyrenees and Alps through central and eastern Europe into Scandinavia and across the boreal forest belt of Russia to Japan; absent from Britain and Ireland.

Migration

Resident and sedentary, holding large territories year-round.

Behavior

A powerful excavator, capable of chiseling deep, rectangular holes into solid wood to reach beetle larvae or expose ant galleries within tree trunks and stumps.

Voice

Gives a loud, far-carrying "kri-kri-kri" flight call and a ringing "kluu" contact call, along with slow, resonant, powerful drumming.

Feeding

Feeds heavily on carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae, excavated from dead wood and ant-infested tree trunks and stumps.

Nesting and breeding

Excavates a large oval nest hole, often high in a mature tree, that is later reused by species such as owls, stock doves, and martens once vacated. Females lay 2-6 white eggs, incubated by both sexes for about 12-14 days.