Black Woodpecker

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Black Woodpecker
Adult male with young.
Adult male with young.
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Dryocopus
Species: D. martius
Binomial name
Dryocopus martius
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Black Woodpecker, Dryocopus martius, is a large woodpecker, 40-46 cm long with a 67-73 cm wingspan.

It lives in mature forest across the northern palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding in Eurasia. It does not migrate.

[edit] Description

The plumage of this crow-sized woodpecker is entirely black apart from a red crown. In males, the entire crown is red, but in females only the hindcrown. The sexes differ even as nestlings.

The Black Woodpecker's flight is straight, not dipping like other woodpeckers.

The nest is a tree-hole into which four or more eggs are laid.

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[edit] References