woodpecker fact

20 Know the facts of Woodpecker Lifestyle and Varieties


A Woodpeckers is known for pecking holes in a tree bark and it does it to find insects to eat. Woodpeckers live in forests and spend their lives in the trees. Woodpecker is around 180 species or types.

Woodpeckers are worldwide, but are abundant is Southeast Asia and South America, but for New Guinea and Australia. Most woodpeckers spend lives in trees, spiral up in search of insects. A few ground-feeding forms also perch on horizontal branches. Else, most woodpeckers feed on berries and fruits or in some seasons feed on sap from certain trees.

Woodpecker’s prepares for winter by finding a dead tree and makes holes for the acorns. Each hole is small, prohibiting the other large birds from stealing the acorn. Besides keeping the hole narrow has it advantage that the nut breaks. By the summer end, the work of the woodpecker ends. It is the time the acrons ripe. A large tree trunk holds around 50,000 acorns, ensuring a satisfying winter for the bird.

Woodpeckers, in spring give loud calls; it is augmented occasionally on metal or mostly by drumming on hollow wood. They are the male’s sounds having territories and if not in other seasons, they are silent. Mostly, woodpeckers travel in pairs or prefer solitary.

Woodpecker Fact






A few woodpecker species


  • The acorn woodpecker is 20 cm long (8 inches). It stores it supply in the tree barks by drilling it as winter food. The woodpeckers are in the deciduous woodlands of western North America south to Colombia. There are redheaded woodpeckers in the same size as an acorn woodpecker, but is distributed sparsely in farmland, open woodlands, and orchards of North America to the Rocky Mountains east.
  • Downy woodpecker is a species well known and does 15 cm long, inhabit in the woodlands. However, the hairy woodpecker is 20-25cm long; these two species are in temperate North America. While, spotted woodpecker is about 23 cm long and is found in Eurasia western temperate South to North Africa.
  • Black woodpecker is 46 cm long found in beech and coniferous woodlands of Eurasia, while in temperate North America the pileated woodpecker is 40-47cm in size, inhabiting the mature forests.
  • Woodpeckers 3-toed are in two species. The three-toe northern woodpecker ranges across subarctic Northern Hemisphere and in some south mountains, while the three-toe black backed is across central Canada, the forested region.
  • The crimson-backed woodpecker is from India to Philippine Islands in open woodlands. The green woodpecker is throughout the temperate Eurasia to Africa south to north. The red-bellied woodpecker is in the U.S, southeaster deciduous forests.
  • Ivory-billed woodpecker is 45cm long and is found in the Southern U.S. and Cuba, while a Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker, a subspecies, and the imperial woodpecker of Mexico is in the endangered list. All these birds need isolation and large trees.

Sphyrapicus


Sapsucker is found in North America and Picidae family woodpeckers are noted for drilling holes in neat close rows through the trees bark and obtains sap and insects. They catch insects in midair.

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is about 20 cm long. It breeds in northern regions (south in mountains) and migrates to the West Indies and Central America; the red-naped and breasted races are to the west of the Rocky Mountains.

Roman mythology


Picus, is a woodpecker in Roman mythology, sacred to the god Mars. It was worshipped widely in ancient Italy. Picus was an agricultural deity connected with the soil fertilization with manure. The woodpecker was in augury.

Wryneck


Wryneck is from the subfamily Jynginae from the woodpecker family (Picidae). Wrynecks are gray-brown birds. This species twist their necks snakily when alarmed. The eat insects from trees or flick up ants using long tongues and nest in old woodpecker holes. Wryneck is 16 cm long, breeds in the tropics during winters and other times is from England to Japan.

List Of Woodpecker Species

Serial NoCommon NameBinomial name
01Guadeloupe woodpeckerMelanerpes herminieri
02Red-throated wryneckJynx ruficollis
03Eurasian wryneckJynx torquilla
04Bar breasted piculetPicumnus aurifrons
05Black dotted piculetPicumnus nigropunctatus
06Arrowhead piculetPicumnus minutissimus
07Varzea piculetPicumnus varzeae
08Red headed woodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
09Golden Naped woodpeckerMelanerpes chrysauchen
10White Fronted woodpeckerMelanerpes cactorum
11Golden Cheeked woodpeckerMelanerpes chrysogenys
12Yucatan woodpeckerMelanerpes pygmaeus
13West Indian woodpeckerMelanerpes superciliaris
14Cuban green woodpeckerXiphidiopicus percussus
15Buff spotted woodpeckerPardipicus nivosus
16Brown eared woodpeckerPardipicus caroli
17Bennett’s woodpeckerCampethera bennettii
18Golden-tailed woodpeckerCampethera abingoni
19Mombasa WoodpeckerCampethera mombassica
20Little green WoodpeckerCampethera maculosa
21Little spotted woodpeckerCampethera cailliautii
22Tullberg’s woodpeckerCampethera tullbergi
23Brown capped pygmy woodpeckerYungipicus nanus
24Grey capped pygmy woodpeckerYungipicus canicapillus
25Sulu pygmy woodpeckerYungipicus ramsayi
26American three-toed woodpeckerPicoides dorsalis
27Black backed woodpeckerPicoides arcticus
28Arabian woodpeckerDendrocoptes dorae
29Little grey woodpeckerDendropicos elachus
30Cardinal woodpeckerDendropicos fuscescens
31Gabon woodpeckerDendropicos gabonensis
32Melancholy woodpeckerDendropicos lugubris
33Eastern grey woodpeckerDendropicos spodocephalus
33Olive woodpeckerDendropicos griseocephalus
34Crimson Breasted woodpeckerDryobates cathpharius
33Little woodpeckerVeniliornis passerinus
34Checkered woodpeckerVeniliornis mixtus
35Striped woodpeckerVeniliornis lignarius
36Yellow-vented woodpeckerVeniliornis dignus
37Arizona woodpeckerLeuconotopicus arizonae
38Hairy woodpeckerLeuconotopicus villosus
39White headed woodpeckerLeuconotopicus albolarvatus
40Fulvous breasted woodpeckerDendrocopos macei
41Freckle breasted woodpeckerDendrocopos analis
42Darjeeling woodpeckerDendrocopos darjellensis
43Himalayan woodpeckerDendrocopos himalayensis
44Sind woodpeckerDendrocopos assimilis
45White-winged woodpeckerDendrocopos leucopterus
46Great spotted woodpeckerDendrocopos major
47Okinawa woodpeckerDendrocopos noguchii

Great Spotted Woodpecker by ginger
Image Credit: Ginger
Great Spotted Woodpecker by George
Image Credit: George
Woodpecker fact by Veronika Andrews
Image Credit: Veronika Andrews
Downy Woodpecker by Jack Bulmer
Image Credit: Jack Bulmer

Engineer Birds Woodpecker Amazing Nest Building


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