{"id":9549,"date":"2011-04-18T03:22:07","date_gmt":"2011-04-18T02:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/?p=9549"},"modified":"2013-07-02T22:40:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T21:40:28","slug":"on-woodpeckers-notes-from-an-accidental-ornithologist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2011\/04\/18\/on-woodpeckers-notes-from-an-accidental-ornithologist\/","title":{"rendered":"On Woodpeckers (notes from an accidental ornithologist)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eurasian Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis, female. (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through a combination of photography and a creeping fascination with avian behaviour and taxonomy (thanks to my wife giving me Colin Tudge’s The Secret Life of Birds<\/em> for my birthday) I think I’m turning into some sort of accidental ornithologist.\u00a0 Point being, you can expect the occasional photo-flavoured birdy post; and today – it’s woodpeckers!<\/p>\n

The female Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis<\/em>) above is one of the three most common woodpeckers found in the UK <\/em>.<\/p>\n

Photographically, woodpeckers are a challenge. The whole family is jumpy, taking off as a matter of principle at the sniff of a threat.\u00a0 So, considering I was sneaking up with no hide, I’m pleased how these turned out.\u00a0 Here are a few more of the male\/female pair and a juvenile.\u00a0 You can tell the male by the red flash under his eye (click thumbnail to open slideshow):<\/p>\n

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And this male Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major<\/em>)was snapped only a few days ago (click thumbnail to open slideshow):<\/p>\n

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Globally, there are 218 species4<\/sup> in the Picidae<\/em> family to which woodpeckers belong, living in every country with trees except for Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Here are two more I snapped in California.\u00a0 The first set shows an Acorn Woodpecker Melanenpes formicivorus<\/em> and the Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris<\/em> (click thumbnail to open slideshow):<\/p>\n

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Here’s a video of a female Ladder-back hunting for bugs:
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