Woodland sounds come in many forms; the creaking and rubbing of trees against themselves; the rustle of a roe deer\u2019s hoof in the leaf litter; the tittering and chirruping of small forest birds. But one of the most distinctive sounds must be that of a woodpecker drumming its pointed bill against the trunk of a tree.<\/p>\n
Less obvious amid the chorus of other woodland birds, though still distinctive, are the calls of Britain\u2019s woodpecker species.<\/p>\n
So now you know they\u2019re there. But seeing them is another matter. If you are lucky enough to spot one, your next challenge is to identify them. Here\u2019s how to tell Britain\u2019s woodpeckers apart.<\/p>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2019\/03\/Green-woodpecker-d2170e0.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>What is a woodpecker?<\/h2>\n
A woodpecker is a medium-sized\u00a0bird with distinctive colouration, a pointed bill, round head, long tongue and stiff tail. Woodpecker species tend to have a long, bouncing flight.<\/p>\n
How many species of woodpecker are there in the UK?<\/h2>\n
There are three species of woodpecker in the UK and one species of wryneck (a\u00a0group of\u00a0small Old World woodpeckers), which appears as a passage migrant\u00a0in spring and autumn. Worldwide, there are more than\u00a0200 species of woodpecker and just two species of wryneck.<\/p>\n You may also like:<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Late winter is an excellent time to go woodpecker spotting \u2013\u00a0with fewer leaves on the trees, they are more visible and their drumming reverberates through stark woodlands.<\/p>\n Dendrocopos major<\/em><\/p>\n Largely black and white with flashes of red on the back of its head and rear, this is the size of a blackbird. Its bursts of drumming in spring are a courtship call. Its emits a high pitched \u2018kik\u2019 sound and has distinctive undulating flight. Of the four, it\u2019s most likely to visit garden birdfeeders.<\/p>\n Dendrocopos minor<\/em><\/p>\n This tiny sparrow-sized bird is now extremely scarce in the UK, and even harder to see as it lives high among the outer twigs of trees. It lacks the great spotted\u2019s white shoulder patches and drums much faster \u2013 15 blows a second compared to the 8-10 of its larger cousin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Picus viridis<\/em><\/p>\n With its red crown and green-yellow body, this species is often mistaken for an escaped parrot. Though it nests in woods, it tends to forage in parkland and meadows where it probes anthills to eat ants and their larvae. Laughing, shrieking call \u2013 known as the \u2018yaffle\u2019.<\/p>\n Jynx torquilla<\/em><\/p>\n This tiny mottled brown woodpecker is extinct as a breeding bird in Britain but still appears on passage in spring and autumn \u2013 especially in gardens. It hunts ants and, unlike other woodpeckers, lives mainly on the ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n By Fergus Collins Published: Thursday, 28 April 2022 at 12:00 am Woodland sounds come in many forms; the creaking and rubbing of trees against themselves; the rustle of a roe deer\u2019s hoof in the leaf litter; the tittering and chirruping of small forest birds. But one of the most distinctive sounds must be that of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16123,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/04\/woodpecker-guide-uk-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-scaled.jpg",2560,1786,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/04\/woodpecker-guide-uk-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/04\/woodpecker-guide-uk-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-300x209.jpg",300,209,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/04\/woodpecker-guide-uk-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-768x536.jpg",768,536,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/04\/woodpecker-guide-uk-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-1024x715.jpg",800,559,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/04\/woodpecker-guide-uk-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-1536x1072.jpg",1536,1072,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/04\/woodpecker-guide-uk-species-how-to-identify-and-where-to-see-2048x1429.jpg",2048,1429,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Fergus Collins Published: Thursday, 28 April 2022 at 12:00 am Woodland sounds come in many forms; the creaking and rubbing of trees against themselves; the rustle of a roe deer\u2019s hoof in the leaf litter; the tittering and chirruping of small forest birds. But one of the most distinctive sounds must be that of…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/16122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}When is the best time to see woodpeckers?<\/h2>\n
UK woodpecker ID guide<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
Great spotted woodpecker<\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2019\/09\/Great-spotted-woodpecker--2d804c7-e1650978733919.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Lesser spotted woodpecker<\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2018\/08\/lesser-spotted-woodpecker-1c05a5b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Green woodpecker<\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2018\/09\/GettyImages-124758610-9e39420.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C412"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Wryneck<\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2022\/04\/Wryneck-Jynx-torquilla-959a343.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C411"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
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