Great Spotted Woodpecker
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Distribution of the Great Spotted Woodpecker in Buckinghamshire
© Buckinghamshire Environmental Records Centre
Great Spotted Woodpeckers can often be heard before they are seen. They have a loud "tchick tchick" call and both the males and females advertise their territory by drumming their beak against dead wood. They have a white breast with red feathers under their tail and black and white markings on their head on wings. Young birds have a red cap on the top of the head, but as they grow older this becomes black and males develop a red band on the back of their neck.
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Male great spotted woodpecker
© Richard Bowsher
The Great Spotted Woodpecker is the most widespread and numerous of the three woodpeckers that are found in Britain. They can be found throughout Buckinghamshire but they are most common in the south, which is the most wooded area of the county.
Woodpeckers nest in holes that they excavate in tree trunks, and occasionally in telegraph poles. Although they mainly feed on insects they eat a variety of seeds and will take food that is put out on bird tables
For more information call 01296 696012 or email erc@buckscc.gov.uk
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