Picus viridis
A large, laughing woodpecker that feeds on lawns, not trees.
Size: 31-33 cm | Habitat: Park & Woodland-Edge Birds | Season: All year
Britain's largest common woodpecker, the green woodpecker has olive-green upperparts, a bright yellow rump, and a red crown. Unlike other woodpeckers, it feeds mainly on the ground.
Olive-green back · bright yellow rump, obvious in flight · red crown · black 'moustache' stripe (red-centred in males) · undulating flight
Green woodpeckers probe lawns and anthills with a long, sticky tongue to catch ants, their main food, rather than drumming on trees like other woodpeckers. Their loud, laughing call, known as a 'yaffle', often gives them away before they're seen.
A green woodpecker's tongue can extend around 10cm beyond the tip of its bill, coated in sticky saliva for hoovering up ants deep inside a nest.
The Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) is Britain's largest common woodpecker, olive-green above with a bright yellow rump and a bold red crown, unmistakable both in flight and at rest.
Unusually among woodpeckers, it feeds mainly on the ground rather than on tree trunks, probing lawns, anthills, and open grassland with a remarkably long, sticky tongue to extract ants, its main food source. Its loud, ringing, laughing call, known as a 'yaffle', is one of the most distinctive sounds of a British park or woodland edge, often heard well before the bird itself is spotted.
Understanding the green woodpecker's ground-feeding habit explains why, despite being a woodpecker, it's often seen hopping across open lawns rather than clinging to bark like its great spotted cousin.
🟢 Conservation status: Green (UK Birds of Conservation Concern 5)
Green-listed. The UK green woodpecker population is stable, and the species has benefited from milder winters, which make it easier to find ants in frozen ground. It remains sensitive to prolonged hard frosts, which can make its main food source inaccessible.