European green woodpecker

    Picus viridis

Castilian: Pito real

Catalan: Picot verd

Gallego: Peto verde

Euskera: Okil berdea

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Piciformes

Family: Picidae

Migratory status: Permanent 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 “Not Evaluated”.

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THREATS

The reduction of old wooded areas and the elimination of riparian areas due to agricultural intensification and bad forest management policies, have caused a reduction in the food supply and in the trees that this species uses to nest. It is also affected by insecticides used against ants, given that they poison the bird.

Length / size: 31-33 cm / 40-42 cm

Identification: Large wryneck that is unmistakeable because of the greenish colours that predominate in its plumage, which are more intense on and around its back and greyish on and around its belly, with shades of yellow on its rump. On its head, its crown is red and its eyes are yellowish and enclosed by a black facial disc. The female is characterised by a black moustache that is red in males and juveniles. Juveniles also have mottled plumage and a duller colouration. Its flight pattern is undulating, and in some stretches the bird beats its wings and in others it folds them in.

Song: The song is unmistakeable; it sounds like the neigh of a horse but very loud.

Diet: It feeds on ant larvae and adults. It also obtains xylophagous insect larvae from rotten or weakened wood, given that its bill is not as strong as in other woodpeckers, even though its long sticky tongue allows it to remove larvae hidden up to 10 cm deep in wood.

Reproduction: It begins toward the end of March with the perforation of a deep nest in a soft or rotten tree. Both parents build the nest, incubate the eggs and care for the chicks.

HABITAT

It occupies forest, semi-forest and partially wooded areas, and it is not uncommon to see it in city parks and gardens. But it prefers deciduous forest that are not very dense, forest edges and riverbank forests. It usually breeds from sea level up to an elevation of 1,200 metres.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: It is found scattered across practically the entire peninsula.

In Castile and León: It is distributed throughout the entire community.

Movements and migrations: Only juveniles make some dispersive movements following riverside forests.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 60000-90000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of more than 10000 breeding pairs.