The Green Woodpecker is a large woodpecker with a green back and yellow rump very noticeable in flight. Green Woodpeckers have a shiny red cap, with a dark mask and pale iris. Their moustache is black in the female and with a red centre in the male (top shot). They are shy and elusive birds and rarely do they give good sightings. They are more often detected by their characteristic call or 'yaffle' reminiscent of a whinnying horse. Green Woodpeckers are ant specialists, they locate ants nests and eat the ants and their eggs and larvae by probing the nest with their long-sticky tongue. On the grasslands where they feed their green plumage offers them a perfect camouflage. Their habitat includes garden lawns, golf courses, and woodland rides. They breed in holes they excavate in trees, as other woodpeckers.
The Green Woodpecker is a scarce resident in Hull, with the records more abundant on the western side of Hull and around the outskirts. Likely places include Garrowby Community Orchard, Noddle Hill LNR and Wilberforce Wood. Other sites have had single sporadic sightings. Richard Broughton in his 2002 Birds of the Hull area regarded them as a very occasional species in the Hull area, but numbers seem to be increasing, with records year round. I had 16 records in the last 5 years, and just 2 in the previous 5. There are indications that they are probably breeding locally, several juveniles have been seen in Hull during the month of July in the last couple of years, like the one above in the Sculcoates area, in Sutton and at Garrowby Orchard.
A Green Listed species in the UK, with increased population since the 1960s, with some range expansion to the north and east. It may benefit from a warming climate as it is susceptible to cold winters.
