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Grey-headed woodpecker

 

Occasionally we meet the grey-headed woodpecker in city parks. Going by plumage colour it is sometimes thought that it is a green woodpecker but actually the grey-headed woodpeckers are rather more numerous than the green woodpeckers, and the winterers can be around six thousand to fifteen thousand birds.

 

Compared to the green woodpecker our star of the day is smaller, the head is more grey and the face has a narrow black streak similar to whiskers. The juvenile birds are lighter in colours. Only the male bird has a red forehead.

 

It is easy to describe details, but less certain that they can be noted in nature, we have to do with a very shy and cautious bird. The grey-headed woodpeckers often play „hide-and-seek“ with the observer, moving to hide behind the tree trunk and proceeding with their business there. You try to move silently to a new observation point – the same action is repeated. A difficult object for photographers.