(Dendrocopos major)
The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a bird around about 24 centimeters long and it is a permanent resident of our garden. It has very strong bill, for drilling and drumming on trees, and long tongue for extracting food. Also, might be very interesting to know that it has a special membrane which closes protecting the eye from flying debris. And some special feathers are covering the nostrils, too.
During summer, this woodpecker is such an inconspicuous bird! Its best ally is the foliage, and the only way to be aware of Woody’s presence it is the drumming, those repeated blows of its bill upon a trunk. What’s very interesting for me, it’s that a few years ago I noticed a woodpecker drumming upon an iron pole, not a wood one. The sounds were amazing.
Unfortunately, only during winter I have more chances to get some decent photos of this woodpecker.
When was the last time you saw a woodpecker?
Cornell's photos and words 