European green woodpecker: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the European green woodpecker lives – recorded in 34 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Picus viridis
Group	Woodpeckers, kingfishers, hornbills & toucans
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	34 countries
Continents	Asia, Europe
Mass	8.9 g (birth weight); 193 g (adult weight)
Diet (main food)	Lasius, Formica
Class	Bird
Order	Piciformes
Family	Picidae

Where does the European green woodpecker live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the European green woodpecker in 34 countries and territories across Asia and Europe. Wikidata gives its range as: Africa.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

How big is an European green woodpecker?

Wikidata records the following for the European green woodpecker: mass 8.9 g (birth weight); 193 g (adult weight).

What does an European green woodpecker eat?

Wikidata lists the main food source of the European green woodpecker as: Lasius, Formica.

Is the European green woodpecker endangered?

The European green woodpecker’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the European green woodpecker?

The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis) is a bird in the order Piciformes and the family Picidae, genus Picus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the European green woodpecker

The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis), also known as the yaffle and sometimes called a nickle, is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the western Palearctic but in Spain and Portugal it is replaced by the similar Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei).

The European green woodpecker spends much of its time feeding on ants on the ground and does not often 'drum' on trees like other woodpecker species. Though its vivid green and red plumage is particularly striking, it is a shy bird, and is more often heard than seen, drawing attention with its loud calls. A nest hole is excavated in a tree; four to six eggs are laid which hatch after 19–20 days.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article European green woodpecker (revision 1372406697), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q166171 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).