I've spotted a green woodpecker at my wildlife pond for the first time! Watch it enjoy a drink and a bathe. It has visited more than once and so I'm hoping we get a new pair here.
Green woodpeckers are the UK's largest woodpeckers. They have olive-green plumage, with a yellow rump, red crown and black around the face. This one is a male, you can tell by the spot of red in its moustache. Females have an all-black moustache.
Green woodpeckers are known for their 'yaffling' calls, which sound like laughter. They feed on ants and are often spotted hopping along the ground which collect with their long, sticky tongues. If you watch carefully you can see that thin tongue reach out as it searches for something on a leaf beside the pond.
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We have large black, red and white pileated woodpeckers here in Va. A pair have come by every evening in our nearby woods. Loud and fun!