Syrian Woodpecker close-up

Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus female. Taken in Bulgaria in June 2012 by Peter Basterfield.

Woodpeckers in Tracks and Signs Book

My new book POCKET GUIDE TO TRACKS AND SIGNS is due out this September. Published by New Holland, London. Although it covers mostly European mammals, as well as some insects, there are photos and information on birds including the signs that woodpeckers make. Check out the link about for more details. Gerard Gorman.

A Quiz Woodpecker

Here is another quiz woodpecker for you ? Which European species is this ?  I took this picture in Hungary, so there are five 'black-and-white' species to choose from.

Wryneck chick

Recently fledged Wryneck Jynx torquilla. Bukk Hills, Hungary, June 2013, Gerard Gorman. 

Juvenile female Black Woodpecker

Juvenile female Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius. females have red only on the hind-crown, males have an all-red crown (see previous blog entry). Photo taken in Dordogne, France by Yann Cambon.

Juvenile Male Black Woodpecker

Juvenile male Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius. Even at this age the sexes differ in plumage: females have red only on the hind-crown, males have an all-red crown. Photo taken in Dordogne, France by Yann Cambon.

Old Growth Forest

In Europe old growth mixed deciduous-conifer forest is scarce. The best remnants remain in uplands and in the east of the continent. Such forests, with lots of dead and rotting timber and hence high numbers of bark and wood-boring beetles, are the home of White-backed and Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers. Photo: Urwald Lahnsattel Forest, Lower Austria, taken by Gerard Gorman in May 2013.