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We often meet the grey-headed woodpecker in urban parks. Due to the colour of the bird’s plumage it is frequently assumed to be a green woodpecker but the grey-headed woodpeckers are much more common in Estonia than the green woodpeckers and the number of winterers can be between 5 000 to 10 000 birds.

 

In contrast to the green woodpecker our hero of the day is smaller, its head is grey and the face has a narrow black streak similar to a sideburn. The plumage of young birds is lighter. Only the male has a red forehead.

 

It is well enough to describe details but whether they can be noted in nature? – we have to do with an extremely wary bird. Often they play hide-and-seek with an observer. If you notice the bird being busy with something, the grey headed woodpecker often moves in hiding behind the tree trunk, continuing its doings there. You try to  move quietly to a new position, and the same thing is repeated. A difficult object for photographers.

 

The grey-headed woodpecker is up to 30 centimetres long and weighs about 150 grams; as comparison, it is about one fourth larger than our best known woodpecker, the great spotted woodpecker.

 

Photo: Arne Ader. Grey-headed woodpecker

 

Read more about the green woodpecker: http://www.looduskalender.ee/en/node/9563