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Great spotted woodpecker

 

 The woodpeckers come to the birdfeeders to feast on delicacies.

 

The male bird’s colourful characteristic is the red patch at the nape, and thus it is a male that we see in Arne’s photo. Black crown and back plumage, white patches on the shoulders, red undertail feathers – both the male and female have those. A quite bright costume in nature now, only a little less colourful than the male bullfinch.

In forests they look for conifer seeds, the “woodpecker anvils“ are bark crevices, tree stumps, branch forks, in conifer or deciduous or dead trees. The cone is wedged in with the tip upwards, the seeds on one side are cleaned out, the cone is rotated and the second half finished off. The worked-over cones look quite tousled and lie around on the ground below the anvil; only the bottom end of the cone is untouched. The “handwriting“ of the great spotted woodpecker is quite different from mice chewed cones.

 

It goes well for the great spotted woodpecker and the winter number is estimated at up to three hundred thousand birds.

 

Great spotted woodpecker on chunk of lard

 

Woodpeckers are attracted to hanging lard chunks as well as Bahlsnack’s larger fat ball that is meant for woodpeckers.

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