10 Fun Facts About Woodpeckers

Here are some of our favourite facts about Woodpeckers!

1. Although there are over 200 species of woodpecker in the world, there are only 3 species in the UK: the Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, and the Green Woodpecker.

2. Great Spotted Woodpeckers are particularly fond of peanuts and insect based suet pellets or suet balls so if you're keen to attract woodpeckers to your garden, try using this bird food.

3. The Green Woodpeckers tongue accounts for around one third of its body length! This is around 10cm long.

4. All species of woodpecker use drumming as a way to communicate. During mating season, male woodpeckers may drum up to 600 times a day until a female responds.

5. The male Great Spotted Woodpecker can be identified by the bright red patch on the back of his neck.

6. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is the smallest of the 3 UK species, measuring just 15cm.

7. Green Woodpeckers can be very solitary birds. They often roost near each other, rather than together, and typically only pair up for a short time around March to mate.

8. In most species of woodpecker, both sexes take it in turns to incubate eggs for up to 12 days.

9. Woodpeckers have shock-absorbent tissue between the base of the bill and the skull to cushion the impact of drumming.

10. The Green Woodpecker is the biggest of the 3 UK species, over double the size of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, measuring 34cm.