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Project Noah Nature School
Picus viridis
The European green woodpecker, a member of the woodpecker family Picidae, is a medium sized bird, measuring some 35 cm in length. Both sexes have green back and wings with yellow rump and red crown and nape and black cheeks. The abdomen and chest are pale yellowish green. Pictured here is female, distinguished by solid black mustachial stripe ; the male has these stripes red (for the male, see one of my previous spottings here: https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/13...
Seen in the backyard of our residence building, at outskirts of a small urban center in Geneva lake valley. The backyard counts a number of deciduous trees and shrubs, most of them spontaneous and local, some planted. The backyard neighbours a meadow (used for producing hay) and a lowland deciduous (mainly oak and beech) forest, and some other agricultural fields.
Had a surprise with my coffee this morning, as this beauty showed up, in my backyard, for a photo session from my balcony. I don't see these beauties often, and almost never so near by - this one stayed relatively calm while I shot my fill of clicks... The European green woodpecker is a shy bird, and not easily seen - but it can be easily heard thanks to its loud cries. This bird rarely drums on trees, but spends much of its time feeding on ants on the ground.
Spotted on Jan 29, 2023
Submitted on Feb 13, 2023
1 Comment
Great spotting Zlatan Celebic, I think I got this one too from France, only from the west, aren't finished with my spottings from Greece yet, so it will appear sooner or later. And yes it's a very shy bird indeed, I was at a pond when it flew by and landed, on an oak tree I think. Since I was wearing green, I blended in with the environment and got my pictures, but as soon as I moved, it flew away.