A NEW BOOK on Eurasian Green Woodpecker

I am pleased to announce that my new book, THE GREEN WOODPECKER - A MONOGRAPH ON PICUS VIRIDIS, has been published. It is available via amazon.com and amazon.co.uk and all amazon sites. Hope you like it, Gerard.

Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus). Female. Hungary, September 2020.

Close-up of a Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus). 

Female. Hungary, September 2020. Photo: Gerard Gorman.

Syrian Woodpecker male

A male Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus at his drumming post. Hungary, May 2020. Photo: Gerard Gorman.

Book: woodpecker artwork

The book WOODPECKERS OF EUROPE (2004) is out-of-print, and hard to find thesedays. Here is a sample, showing the excellent artwork of Szabolcs Kokay. Black Woodpecker on the cover and a plate with Great Spotted Woodpecker. 

Time for reading?

Most of us have less time outside than usual right now... so maybe do a little reading, a little research? Here is a suggestion :-)

Adult male Eurasian Green Woodpecker

Adult male (note the red malar stripe) Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis). This great photo was taken in south-east France, 2020, by J-M Bompar.

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on snag

A male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor) in a classic pose on a dry snag. SE France, March, 2020. Thanks/Merci to J-M Bompar.

White-backed Woodpecker lilfordi race

An adult male White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos lilfordi. Abruzzo Mts, Italy, January 2020. Gerard Gorman.

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Budapest, Hungary, 2019. The sexes are alike, and it is hard to separate them in the field. 

HUNGARIAN WOODPECKER WORKING GROUP

In the summer of 2019 the HUNGARIAN WOODPECKER WORKING GROUP (in Hungarian: MME Harkályvédelmi Munkacsoport) was formed. The group is a specialist group of the Hungarian Ornithological & Nature Conservation Society (MME) based in Budapest. Aims of the group include seeking to study and conserve woodpeckers and their habitats in Hungary and promote and increase interest in these important and popular birds, and the places where they live, amongst the general public.

Syrian Woodpecker female

Here is a nice Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus. A female, note the lack of red on the nape. Thanks to David Carlsson who took this shot in Hungary in October 2019.

Black Woodpecker male

Adult male Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius, Hungary, by David Carlsson. 

NEW! Hungarian Woodpecker Working Group

Very pleased to announce the establishment of the HUNGARIAN WOODPECKER WORKING GROUP, founded this spring in Budapest. It will work under the umbrella of the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (MME). Lots of plans and plenty to do! Here is the group's logo.

White-backed Woodpecker in flight

A male White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos takes off! Photo by David Carlsson taken in Belarus in May 2019.

Middle Spotted Woodpecker

Middle Spotted Woodpecker Leiopicus medius or Dendrocopos medius. Photo taken yesterday in the Buda Hills, Budapest, Hungary by Gerard Gorman.

Season's Greetings!

Hoping for many woodpeckers in 2019! 

Syrian Woodpecker male

Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus, Hungary, 2018. This woodpecker often frequents urban areas and seeing one, like this adult male, on a wooden utility pole is not unusual at all.

Wryneck in the hand

A Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla about to be released after being caught and ringed (banded). Near Bourgas, eastern Bulgaria, September 2018 (Gerard Gorman). 

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker removing egg

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor), River Park, Pamplona, Spain. This great image taken by Alfonso Senosiain shows a male removing an egg from its own nest. Presumably the egg was infertile and the woodpecker simply wanted to keep the cavity clean. Woodpeckers are known to keep their nesting holes tidy.

Woodpecker - a book from in the Animal Series

If you are interested in woodpeckers in the context of "a new kind of animal history" (as described by the publisher Reaktion Books) then this book is for you. It focuses not only on the natural history of the picid family but also their cultural history. It explore and delves into the fascination that humankind has had for woodpeckers since ancient times, in myth, legend, science. See here WOODPECKER for more.