Woodpecker Holes in Telephone Pole

This photo shows a wooden telephone pole that woodpeckers have made holes in. Both Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major and Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus are present in the park in northern Serbia where this photo was taken and both of these species could be responsible.

Pine Cones Below Anvil

A pile of opened pine cones below the anvil, or workshop, of a Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major. Favourite anvils are repeatedly used and thus piles of cones accumulate as they are tossed out after being opened and the seeds extracted. Forest near Tartu, Estonia, 2009.

Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Ireland

Finally, Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major has been found breeding in the Republic of Ireland. The species has been breeding in Northern Ireland since 2006, and indeed may have been breeding in the south for some years, but now the firm evidence is there. Eight occupied nesting holes of the species documented in County Wicklow, in 2009. Read about it here: Great Spotteds in Ireland

Tongue of Syrian Woodpecker

This photo of a juvenile Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus, found dead in Budapest, Hungary, was sent to me by Szabolcs Kokay. It shows the amazing, long tongue.

Tree Stripped by Black Woodpecker

This tree has been stripped by Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius. At first glance it may look like the work of White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos which works in a similar way on dead trees, however, the very large wood chips below the tree, the rather ragged nature of the stripped wood and the larger slashes on the tree (indicating the much larger bill of the larger species) all point to Black Woodpecker. Pilis Hills, Hungary, November 2009.