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Black woodpecker 

This summer`s young birds look like adults by late autumn and if we are able to observe the bird without disturbing it we can find out who we are dealing with: adult birds`base of the beak is whitish and the tip is black, young birds still have entirely yellowish beaks. The pupil of the black woodpecker`s eye is oval, adult birds have yellowish eyes, while the young birds have bluish grey eyes. Black woodpeckers have a deep black plumage and grey legs. We can just notice a red spot on the back of the head of the female bird; male bird has a red crown. 

Black woodpecker’s beak-work

 

If you should suddenly come across wood chips in the forest which appear to have fallen from the sky, about ten centimeters long and scattered across an area of several square meters, then probably it is the beak-work of the black woodpecker who has been hacking a hollow in a tree – just as if the wood had been carved with an ax.

 

The chopping of other Estonian woodpeckers, much smaller in size,  will not produce chips, only a sawdust-like material under the trees. The ax-like blows of the black woodpecker however are incredibly powerful - such chips are enough to use for lighting a fire. If you lean over backwards you will surely see a fresh hollow in the trunk.