Mary Allen
Woodpeckers are slender birds with a strong beaks. It’s like a stonemason’s chisel: hard, sharp, and good for punching holes in tree bark. This knocking can be heard well in the woods. It’s a loud, fast “Trrrrr”.
Woodpeckers live almost everywhere in the world where there are forests. The great spotted woodpecker and the black woodpecker are the most common in Europe. They dig themselves tree hollows for the winter and for the young. They feed on insects: the woodpeckers attach themselves to the tree bark and hammer open the bark with their beak. Among them, you will find many insects. They also help the trees to stay healthy.
The green woodpecker is the third most common in Europe. It almost always looks for its food on the ground. He especially likes ants. Its tongue is about four inches long. It has barbs at the front so he can get the ants out of their tunnels. For the winter and for the young, he needs burrows from other woodpeckers.
Woodpeckers mate in spring. The female lays about six eggs in a tree cavity. Both parents incubate the eggs for a good two weeks. Then they feed their offspring together for three to seven weeks. Then the young fly out.