Dendrocopos major

The great spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos major is a medium-sized bird, very distinctive for its black and white plumage, strong, pointed beak and alert attitude. Both sexes have very showy red spots on the belly, and only the males have another one on the nape of the neck, while young specimens can be identified by a red spot all over the crown, that is, on the top of the head. 

This woodpecker is able to tap the bark of trees repeatedly and quite often, a characteristic tapping that we can hear, even at a great distance, on our walks in the forest. This powerful ability to drill the strongest woods with its powerful beak allows it to settle in a wide variety of forest or semi-forest habitats, from mountain pine forests to riparian forests, as well as holm oak or cork oak forests.

Woodpeckers build their nests in tree trunks, at a height of 3 to 4 metres from the ground. Wood chips are placed inside the hole. The female lays 4 to 7 eggs between May and June.

It feeds mainly on insects such as ants, caterpillars and beetles. It finds them in the bark or in the cracks of tree trunks. When these are scarce, it supplements its diet with seeds and fruits… especially in winter.

Its flight, which is undulating, alternates strong wing beats with movement with closed wings.

Their song is strident, in the form of a “piik-piik-piik.”

If you have the opportunity to hear the hammering in the distance during your walks through a wooded area, you will know that it is our friend, the woodpecker, who is using these sounds to search for food.