Black Woodpecker

Male
Photo © by birdimage
Berlicum, Netherlands, March 2008

Dryocopus martius

Identification

45–55 cm (17½-21½ in)

• Glossy black plumage
• White eye (or more precisely iris); most if not all birds have a black spot on the iris that can make the pupil look tear-shaped or bar-shaped.
• Bill: large greyish-white (5cm) dagger-shaped; broad at the base and tapering to a sharp tip. Darkish culmen ridge and tip
• Dull grey legs and feet
  

Males- entire crown is red, females red hindcrown only

Distribution

Occurs from Europe to the Pacific coast of northern Asia.

In the Western Palearctic, the main breeding range is Scandinavia except the highest mountains and the far north and from Germany and Switzerland across Europe to the Urals and Caspian. In the south breeds as far as northern Greece but rare and local in Turkey. Scattered breeding populations in much of France and the Low Countries, the Pyrenees and Cantabrians, southern Apennines, the eastern Balkans and isolated in the Caucasus.

Female
Photo © by Pasha
Moscow, Russia

Breeds across northern Asia from the Urals to Kamchatka, Sakhalin and China. In Japan breeds on Hokkaido and has bred in northern Honshu and there is an isolated population in western China.

Mainly resident but small numbers are seen at Scandinavian migration sites and juveniles disperse to some extent. Expanding range in north-western Europe, particularly in France and now found as far west as Brittany.

Vagrants have possibly reached Britain but despite now having been reported more than 80 times there are no accepted records. The English Channel does not seem to be an insurmountable barrier for this species as it has colonised the Danish island of Bornholm which lies a similar distance from the mainland as that between northern France and Kent.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

• D. m. martius:

• Coniferous and beech forests of Eurasia

• D. m. khamensis:

• Tibet and south-western China

Habitat

Mature forest, coniferous, deciduous or preferably mixed. In winter may occur in rather more open habitats.

Behaviour

Photo © by aritervo
Finland, city of Kajaani, April 2009

Breeding

Nests in large trees, favours beech, pine or aspen, and 4 or more eggs are laid. Often drums from the highest tree in the area.

Diet

Frequently feeds on the ground. Their main diet consists of various ants and their larvae.

Vocalisation

Drum: very loud and fast. Can be heard at distances of 2-4 km.
Call: loud p'eee and kvi-vi-vi-vi

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Birdwatchers Pocket Guide ISBN 1-85732-804-3
3. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
4. The Spread of Black Woodpecker in Europe - Will It Reach Britain next? Birding World 11 (11) Gerard Gorman.
5. Woodpeckers of Europe: A Study of the European Picidae. Gerard Gorman. ISBN 1-872842-05-4
6. Birdforum thread discussing tear-shaped pupil in Black Woodpecker
7. Winkler, H. and D. A. Christie (2020). Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.blawoo1.01

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black_Woodpecker

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