Sunday 22 March 2015

Tree stump shaved by White-backed Woodpecker

Tree stump worked on by White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos. March 21, Bukk Hills, Hungary (Gerard Gorman). In Europe only White-backed Woodpecker shaves timber in this way when looking for prey. Similar work is done by Black and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, but they tend to strip and peck panels or patches rather than totally shave whole stumps or snags from top to bottom and all around, and the beak marks they leave are more crude, not as fine. 

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