Eurasian wryneck

    Jynx torquilla

Castilian: Torcecuello euroasiático

Catalan: Colltort

Gallego: Peto formigueiro

Euskera: Lepitzulia

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Piciformes

Family: Picidae

Migratory status: Summer resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Of Special Interest” category. In the 2004 edition of the Red Book of Spanish Birds (Libro Rojo de las Aves de España) it is listed as “Insufficient Data”.

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THREATS

The decrease in the ant population, which are this species' primary food source, due to the use of insecticides, agricultural intensification, and the lack of trees that are adequate nesting places are the primary threats.

Length / size: 16-17 cm / 25-27 cm

Identification: Small wryneck that, unlike the other members of this family, has greyish-brown cryptic plumage with dots and bars, does not drill into trees, and lacks rigid tail feathers. It also resembles a passerine when it hops around on the ground.

Song: It makes a nasal, mournful "kee-kee-kee-kee" sound, which resembles that of the other woodpeckers.

Diet: It feeds on ants in all of its life stages, which it traps with it tongue when looking under tree trunks or between rocks; it also consumes other intvertebrates from the ground, tree branches, and even in flight.

Reproduction: It beings in April or early May with the marking of territory by means of loud calls and the search of an appropriate nesting site. It is usually another woodpecker's old nest, where it can lay its eggs without having to add any new material; it occasionally uses nesting boxes, holes in walls, or burrows in sandy slopes. During the period it becomes very aggressive toward both members of its own species and other small forest birds.

HABITAT

It prefers partially-wooded areas, with meadows, grasslands, etc., although it also lives in orchards, gardes and even in city parks.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is spread across the Balearic Islands and the entire peninsula, most importantly in the northern half and in most of Levante and Majorca.

In Castile and León: It breeds in all the provinces.

Movements and migrations: Migratory or partially migratory species. Specimens from northern and central Europe winter in central Africa and southern Asia. In our latitudes, it can make moderate movements in winter, in addition to the postnuptial (late August-early October) and prenuptial (March) passages.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 10000-50000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of no more than 8000 breeding pairs.