The Great Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos major



It is about 23 cm long, with black underparts and white on its shoulders and certain parts of its head.
The head is black in adults and red in juvenile birds, the lower coverts of the tail are red and the male’s nape is also red.
Its flight is jerky and of considerable speed but it is not very resistant. It rarely alights onto the ground but when it does it tends to hop with ease.
In Italy it is resident and nomadic and lives in woods of the plains and mountains.
It lives in large broad-leaved and coniferous woods, tree-populated fields, parks and can even appear in gardens during the winter.
It has a particular preference for poplar, elm and willow woods.
It tends to be mainly resident, however occasionally a large number of those living in northern- most areas can be seen migrating south.
The Great Spotted Woodpecker usually nests in holes excavated by other woodpeckers.
Courtship takes place at the beginning of the spring season, and the female lays from 4 to 6 small long and extremely fragile eggs which the female and male brood alternately for about 16 days.
The Great Spotted Woodpecker feeds on insects and their larvae, hazelnuts and berries.
In some cases these woodpeckers plunder the eggs and even the nestlings of other species.