Woodpeckers can bang their head against a tree trunk up to 40 times a second without getting a headache, we think. There are shock absorbing pads in the skull which prevent damage and, as the drumming is repeated, we assume it doesn’t hurt.
There are three different woodpeckers in Britain but only two, the green woodpecker and the great spotted woodpeckers, are likely to be seen in Sidmouth. They are easy to tell apart, one is mainly green with various small flashes of red and the other is black and white also with small flashes of red.
The third species, the lesser spotted woodpecker is also black and white with a red flash on the head but there are only about 600 pairs across the whole country, compared to the 130,000 pairs of its greater cousin, and they have not been recorded in Sidmouth for decades.
You can hear a woodpecker drumming on the large trees in the Knowle quite often at present. This will be a male great spotted woodpecker, not feeding but announcing his territory and trying to attract a female. The green woodpecker announces its presence with a very loud laughing yaffle. Professor Yaffle in the Bagpuss series was based on a green woodpecker.
Great spotted woodpeckers feed mainly on bark beetle larvae. They hack at the bark of dead trees with their dagger like beak and then the incredibly long tongue explores the hole until it finds food. The tongue is very sticky and can draw out the larvae. They will also feed on tree seeds and they will predate eggs and young of smaller birds.
You are more likely to see a green woodpecker on your lawn than in a tree. They nest in holes in trees, but they feed mainly on ants. They force their beak into an ant nest and then they too have a phenomenally long sticky tongue to draw out the ants and eggs.
In both species the tongue is so long it will not fit in the mouth and is coiled round the back of the skull when not extended.
Both species nest in holes in old trees. Unlike most birds, their feet are adapted to hanging onto the vertical trunk by having two toes pointing forward and two backwards. The birds will chisel out a nest hole but they prefer to take over an existing hole and modify it to suit their needs. The nest hole extends deep below the entrance where the clutch of 4-6 eggs lie on a bed of wood chips.
Green woodpecker eggs are brooded by the male and female and take about 3 weeks to hatch. The young fledge about 3 weeks later. Great spotted woodpecker eggs are brooded mainly by the female and take about 2 weeks to hatch, the young fledging 3 weeks later.
Both species are doing quite well. Unlike many woodland birds, the green woodpecker population is stable and the great spotted woodpeckers are increasing their range, possibly helped by those trips to garden bird feeders, but you are still much more likely to hear rather than see one..
Ed Dolphin
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