yaffle! that's me laughing. your lawn's ants are mine.
Green woodpecker says
Bird 29 of 30 · video, 46:51
Green woodpecker
Picus viridis
Green with a red cap and a laughing call, an ant-eater with an extraordinarily long tongue, sometimes on your lawn.
- Large, 188.9 g
- Not stated
- Tree hole
- On the ground or lawn
- In a tree
About the green woodpecker
Marks and dots
Tap a numbered dot, or a name in the list.
The male has a red moustache streak.
A very long tongue pulls ants out of their nests.
The female's moustache streak is black.
From egg to adult
-
Egg
Eggs5–6 eggs video, BTO agrees
Hatch after20 days video, BTO agrees
-
Chick in the nest
In the nest for21 days video, BTO agrees
-
Young bird
The young leave the nest three weeks after hatching.
Adult
Green; male has a red moustache
Broods a year1 brood BTO
BTO averages: 19 days incubating the eggs, then 22 days in the nest. Averages across nest records, so the figures above can differ a little.
At the table
- ants, with a very long tongue
Insects under bark are a tasty meal, but if one swoops down on your lawn it is after ants, a favourite delicacy, which it pulls out with an extraordinarily long tongue.
Through the year
Green woodpecker: no months given.
What to know about the green woodpecker
Eight short notes in our own words. Each chip says what the note stands on, and links to its row in the table below.
What to look for
Seen at close range, you will know exactly why it is called a green woodpecker. The flight is undulating, like all woodpeckers', but the long head and neck distinguish the green one.
Male and female
Both sexes are green, but the male has a red moustache streak, where the female has a black one.
Song and call
The old country name is yaffle, which neatly describes the loud series of notes that sound like wild laughter.
Nest
Nests in a deep chamber in a trunk, dug out by both the male and the female, with room for five to six eggs.
Feeding
Insects under bark are a tasty meal, but if one swoops down on your lawn it is after ants, a favourite delicacy, which it pulls out with an extraordinarily long tongue.
Staying or leaving
The video does not say whether green woodpeckers move about with the seasons.
not in the video
In the garden
An unlikely garden visitor, but it has been known, especially if you live near woodland.
Sources and checks
Where every fact about the green woodpecker came from
13 claims about the green woodpecker: 7 checked, 4 from the video only,0 differ, 2 from a source only. How the grades work
| Claim, in our words | Video time | Grade | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seen at close range, a green woodpecker is distinctly green. | 46:51 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO says both sexes have green plumage with a yellow rump and red cap. |
| Flight is very undulating, as with all woodpeckers, but the long head and neck distinguish the green one. | 47:51 | video only | |
| Both sexes are green, but the male has a red moustache streak and the female a black one. | 46:59 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO says the red centre of the black moustache distinguishes males from females, which lack it. |
| The old country name is yaffle, which describes the loud series of notes like wild laughter. | 47:15 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO says its loud laughing call is behind the folk name yaffle. |
| If a green woodpecker swoops down onto your lawn it is in search of ants, a favourite delicacy. | 48:02 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05BTO says ants are the main food, and birds may be seen feeding from an ant nest in short garden turf. |
| It pulls the ants out with an extraordinarily long tongue; insects under bark are also a tasty meal. | 48:06 | video only | |
| It may seem an unlikely garden visitor, but it has been known, particularly close to woodland. | 47:06 | video only | |
| They nest in deep chambers in the trunk, excavated by both male and female. | 47:35 | video only | |
| Five to six eggs at a time.video: 5–6 eggs | 47:41 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 4–6 eggs (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 4–6 |
| Incubation takes 20 days.video: 20 days | 47:43 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 18–20 days (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 18–20 |
| The young leave the nest three weeks later.video: 21 days | 47:47 | checked | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 20.5–23.5 days (BTO typical)inside BTO's typical range of 20.5–23.5 |
| Adult weight, from ringing records: 188.9 g, adult average. | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 188.9 g, adult average |
| Typical broods in a year: 1 brood (BTO typical). | source only | source only | BTO, read 2026-10-05: 1 brood (BTO typical) |
Written in our own words after “British Birds in your Garden” by The Great British Channel, where the green woodpecker starts at 46:51.Numbers are checked against the BTO's page for the green woodpecker, read on 5 October 2026. We are not connected to the channel or to the BTO.
More birbs: 30 so far, and more to come
The coins down the right of the screen are all 30. Tap one to go to that bird.