Granddad’s Camera
Great spotted woodpecker, as it appears in the game

No.026 · Birds · Common

Great spotted woodpecker

Dendrocopos major

A black, white and red woodpecker that drums on dead branches to announce its territory. It is the one that visits garden peanut feeders.

When to look

All year, mostly at dawn and day.

Time of day

Best time
Dawn and morning. Drumming peaks February–April; also visits garden feeders in winter.
Where in the game
the New Forest (ancient woodland), Millbrook (garden, park and churchyard) and the Cairngorms (pine forest)
Size
Length 21–23 cm
Wingspan
About 36 cm
Weight
About 79 g (BTO average)
Lifespan
Up to 11 years 10 months on record (BTO ringing)
Population
About 130,000 pairs in the UK (BTO, 2016); up 373% 1967–2024
Status
Green (Birds of Conservation Concern 5, 2021)

Diet

Insect larvae from dead wood, seeds and nuts in autumn and winter, and in spring raids nests of tits for chicks. Takes peanuts and fat from feeders.

Habitat

Woodland of all kinds, plus parks, churchyards with old trees, and gardens; in the Cairngorms, pine forest.

Breeding

Excavates a hole in a trunk in April–May; 4–6 eggs, one brood; young fledge after about 3 weeks.

Field signs

  • Fast, very short bursts of drumming (well under a second) from a dead limb
  • Sharp 'kik' call
  • Neat round nest hole about 5 cm across, high on a trunk
  • Wedged pine cones or nuts in a bark crevice ('anvil')

Did you know?

  • Its skull is built to take repeated hammering, with a cushioning structure of bone, and its long tongue wraps around the back of the skull.
  • UK numbers have risen by more than 370% since 1967, helped by dead wood in woodland and food in gardens (BTO).
  • Unlike the green woodpecker, it drums rather than laughs, and both sexes drum; only the male has a red patch on the nape.

Moments worth waiting for

  • Drumming February to April, dawn and day
    A rattle of drumming rolls out of the canopy as a woodpecker leans against a dead branch.
  • At the peanut feeder October to March, day
    A great spotted woodpecker clings to the feeder, tail propped, and hammers out a peanut.

Photo tip

Listen for the drumming in late winter and set up near the tree at dawn. A feeder log with peanuts or a smeared trunk in a garden gives close, predictable shots. Use a fast shutter (1/1000 s or more) to freeze the tail-braced posture.

Be a good naturalist

Do not play calls to lure it and do not inspect or film inside an occupied nest hole; breeding birds are easily stressed. Keep well back from a nest tree during April–June.

The law

Protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; nest sites are protected while in use.

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