Birds · Piciformes · Picidae

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocopos major

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

Its distinctive territorial drumming, made by striking its bill against resonant branches as often as 40 times a second, is possible thanks to specialised adaptations of the skull and tongue.

Weight

80 g – 85 g

Size

22 cm – 23 cm

Lifespan

2 years

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Diurnal

Active mainly during the day.

Social structure

Solitary

Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Temperate forestOmnivore Diurnal Solitary Bird Temperate forest

45countries 256parks14same family

Fun facts

Those adaptations absorb the impact and protect its brain from repeated damage.
It eats wood-boring insect grubs, seeds and nuts, and occasionally the eggs and chicks of other birds.
It lives in woodland of every kind, and in parks and gardens with mature trees, across much of the Palaearctic.
anatomíaIt can strike wood as often as 20 times a second without brain damage, thanks to bone and muscle structures in the skull that cushion the blow.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - pneumatised bony skeleton (bird)
Habitat & environment: Woodland of every kind, parks and gardens with mature trees across much of the Palaearctic, North Africa included
Birth weight: Weight at hatching not found as a precise figure
Size at birth: Born blind and naked
Sexual maturity: 1 year
Gestation / incubation: 10-15 days (usual reference 10-12 days)
Litter / clutch size: 4 to 6 eggs per clutch

Sources consulted: Bird Database; World Species; Wild Online Blog; Binocular Base; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Animalia.bio; Wikipedia (Great spotted woodpecker); Birds of the World