Woodpecker New Year

Good luck and good woodpeckers in 2019!

Season's Greetings!

Here's hoping for many woodpeckers - wrynecks, piculets, flickers, flamebacks, yellownapes, all - in 2019!

Golden-olive Woodpecker

Golden-olive Woodpecker Colaptes rubiginosus. Photo by Gerard Gorman taken in Peru, October 2018. This is a male - note the bold red malar patch and all-red crown.

Female Nubian Woodpecker

Female Nubian Woodpecker Campethera nubica. Photo by Sally Cooper, taken in Tanzania, in April, 2018.

Andean Flicker

Andean Flicker (Colaptes rupicola) on the roof of a house in a settlement in the Andes, Peru. October 2018. 

Syrian Woodpecker - an urban picid

Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus. Szabadszallas, Kiskunsag, Hungary, October 2018. This species is often found in urban habitats. Photo: Gerard Gorman.

Eurasian Wryneck - in hand

A Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla about to be released after being ringed (banded). Bourgas, Bulgaria, September 2018 (Gerard Gorman). 

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - Europe's smallest

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dryobates minor. At just 14-16cm long this species is the smallest picid in Europe. Photo taken recently in Hungary, by Gerard Gorman. 

BOOK - RSPB SPOTLIGHT WOODPECKERS

The title WOODPECKERS in the RSPB SPOTLIGHT series of books is due out very soon. I have received a pre-publication copy and it looks good! This colourful book focuses mainly on the four species occurring in Britain - Great Spotted, Lesser Spotted and Green Woodpeckers and Wryneck, but also includes background on woodpeckers around the world. For more details click WOODPECKERS.

Black Woodpecker nestling

Here is another Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) nestling, begging to be fed. From the Dordogne region in France. Photo by Yann Cambon.

Female Black Woodpecker nestling.

Female Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) nestling. Dordogne, France. Photo by Yann Cambon. 

Talk on woodpeckers at the BRITISH BIRD FAIR

One for the diary... I am giving a talk at the BIRD FAIR at Rutland Water UK, on 18th August at 3.30pm. Entitled SPOTLIGHT ON WOODPECKERS. See you there?

Black Woodpecker in cavity

Here is a a male Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius looking out of his nearly completed cavity. Buda Hills, Hungary, April 2018. Gerard Gorman.

Black Woodpecker face-to-face

Here is a close up of a male Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius that popped right up in front of me today. It was so close, I could hardly get a photo. In the Buda Hills, Hungary. Gerard Gorman.