WHAT’S IN A NAME?

A descent of woodpeckers

Adult male green woodpeckers (left) have more vivid plumage than juvenile birds (right)

THE TERM ‘A DESCENT OF WOODPECKERS’ comes from the bird’s peculiar habits The green woodpecker is one of three species indigenous to the UK and it descends to the ground more frequently than the great or lesser spotted varieties. When it’s not swooping down from great heights onto ants, it’s going from the top of one tree to the base of another. It even descends by climbing down tree trunks.