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Picus viridis - Green Woodpecker Woodland and more open ground with scattered trees throughout the UK up to Southern Scotland. |
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A striking and colourful bird with a greenish back, yellow rump, red crown and a characteristic laughing cry or 'Yaffle'. The Green Woodpecker is near the edge of its Northerly range in Dumfries and Galloway, but is known to be present in at least two local reserves, Carstramon and Stenhouse Woods. It is less of a woodland specialist than the Great Spotted, the region's other Woodpecker, and may also be found in more open areas, with scattered trees, feeding on the ground, particularly on ants. The numbers of most woodland birds have declined significantly over the last fifty years as large areas of our native broad-leaved woodland have been destroyed. Some species, like the Green Woodpecker, have to some extent been able to adapt to manmade habitats, such as hedgerows or parkland, but many true woodland specialists are under serious threat. |
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Photo - D. Heward |
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