Green Woodpecker

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Green Woodpecker, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

UK Birds of Conservation Concern	Green listed
Species of European Conservation Concern	Least Concern
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (global)	Least Concern
Schedule 1 license required (to disturb)	No
Birds Directive Annex 1	No
Listed on the Annexes of	Bern(III)

Green Woodpecker populations rose steadily in Britain from 1966 until around 2008, except for a period of stability or shallow decline centred around 1980. There was considerable range expansion in central and eastern Scotland between the 1968-72 and 1988-91 atlas periods. Results from the 2007-11 Atlas indicated that expansion was continuing across England and Scotland, but not in Wales, where major retraction from some western regions was detected in 2008-11 (Balmer et al. 2013). Similarly, the BBS map of change in relative density between 1994-96 and 2007-09 indicated that there had been strong contrast between decreases in southwestern England and South Wales and increase elsewhere, especially in southeastern England. However, BBS trends suggest more recent shallow declines across England. There has been an increase across Europe since 1980 (PECBMS: PECBMS 2020a>). Following a review of its status in Europe, the species was moved from amber to the UK green list in 2015 (Eaton et al. 2015).

UK breeding population

No population change in UK (1995–2022)

Green Woodpeckers are distributed fairly continuously across southern England but become patchy in west Wales, northern England and in south-central Scotland. They are absent from the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and from Ireland.

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Occupied 10-km squares in UK

No. occupied in breeding season	1639
% occupied in breeding season	54
No. occupied in winter	1556
% occupied in winter	52

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Breeding Season Habitats

Most frequent in

Deciduous Wood

Relative frequency by habitat

Relative occurrence in different habitat types during the breeding season.

Overall, the change in breeding range size is relatively small, but this conceals a clear east–west divide in trends, with declining tetrad occupancy in Wales and southwest England contrasting strongly with increasing tetrad occupancy in central and eastern England.

Green Woodpeckers are widely recorded throughout the year, especially in spring when highly vocal, and post-breeding.

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Maximum Age from Ringing

15 years 0 months 8 days (set in 1985)

Wing Length	Adults	163.5±3.6 | Range 158–169mm, N=522
	Juveniles	161.1±3.9 | Range 155-167mm, N=480
	Males	163±3.8 | Range 158–168mm, N=267
	Females	164.1±3.4 | Range 159–169mm, N=250

Body Weight	Adults	189±11.5 | Range 171–206g, N=439
	Juveniles	181±14.7 | Range 156–204g, N=394
	Males	188±11.3 | Range 170–204g, N=226
	Females	190±11.8 | Range 171–209g, N=209

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

Ring size	D
Field Codes	2-letter: G. | 5-letter code: GREWO | Euring: 8560

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Causes of change

There is little evidence available regarding the demographic or ecological causes of population increase in this species.

Further information on causes of change

No information on demographic trends for this species is available. The ecological factors underlying the increase in population size are not yet known but, given the species' susceptibility to cold weather, it may be related to climate change. Smith (2007) found that Green Woodpeckers were not limited by nest-sites in his study woods in southern England and linked the upward trend in numbers to the availability of food outside the woods and higher survival due to a series of mild winters.

Information about conservation actions

This species has been increasing until recently so is not a species of conservation concern and conservation actions are not currently required in most areas of the UK. However, the recent slight decline and losses in western regions do raise potential concerns.

A radiotracking study following a breeding pair in Dorset for over a month found that foraging was, unsurprisingly, strongly influenced by the abundance of ants (especially Lasius flavius), which were most abundant in areas of short grass with high plant richness such as sheep grazed land and garden lawns; arable and cattle grazed fields were avoided by the birds (Alder & Marsden 2010). Hence provision of similar natural or semi-natural grassland habitats may be important, in particular in the areas where this species is declining.