Eurasian Wryneck

• It turns its head almost 180 degrees and, if disturbed at the nest, twists its neck and hisses like a snake: which is why in English it has been called the "snake-bird".
• It is the only migratory woodpecker in Europe, although in Spain the behaviour varies: some populations are resident and others make moderate movements.
• Its main prey is ants, which it extracts from the ground or from rotten wood with its tongue, not by pecking at trunks.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat & environment

Woodland, parks, orchards, apple orchards and areas with scattered trees. In Spain it breeds mainly in the northern third of the peninsula and along the Mediterranean coast from Girona to Murcia, as well as the Balearics, where it is resident. There are scattered populations in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura. Absent as a breeder from the Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla

Birth weight

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Size at birth

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

12-14 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

7-10 white eggs in May and June. It does not excavate its own nest: it reuses the holes of other woodpeckers

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; SEO/BirdLife (ficha y III Atlas: López-Jiménez 2022); Carbonell 2013, Atlas de las aves en invierno en España 2007-2010; Weisshaupt et al. 2011, Bird Study 58; Wijk et al. 2013, Ibis 155; Wijk y Tizón 2016, Ardeola 63(2); Linnaeus 1758

Best time: Spring and summer in the northern third; post-breeding passage between late August and early October