Grey-headed Woodpecker

The Grey-headed Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker with an olive-green back and wings, a pale grey head and underparts, and a stouter, shorter bill than its close relative the Eurasian Green Woodpecker. Males show a small red patch confined to the front of the crown, while females have an entirely grey head with no red at all, a useful distinction between the sexes.

It spends much of its time on the ground or on fallen logs, probing for ants, and like other green woodpeckers it is often heard before it is seen, giving a distinctive, slightly descending laughing call.

Key field marks

• Olive-green back and wings
• Plain grey head, nape, and underparts
• Small red patch restricted to the forecrown in males only; entirely absent in females
• Stouter, shorter bill than the similar Green Woodpecker

Similar species

• Eurasian Green Woodpecker has a black face mask and red extending further back on the crown, with a longer, more pointed bill, and its range overlaps in parts of Europe.
• Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker is much smaller with barred black-and-white plumage rather than plain green.

Habitat

Inhabits mature deciduous and mixed forests, riverine woodland, orchards, and open parkland with old trees and some open ground for foraging.

Range

Widespread across a broad swath of Europe and temperate Asia, from parts of central Europe eastward through Russia, China, Korea, and Japan.

Migration

Generally resident year-round across its range.

Behavior

Often forages on the ground or on fallen wood, probing ant nests with its bill and long, sticky tongue; also excavates dead wood for insects and drums on resonant branches to advertise territory.

Voice

A loud, ringing, slightly descending laughing call, similar to but generally slower and less musical than that of the Green Woodpecker.

Feeding

Specializes heavily on ants and their larvae, also eating other insects and occasionally fruit or berries, especially outside the breeding season.

Nesting

Excavates a nest cavity in a dead or decaying tree trunk; lays 5-9 white eggs.