Grey-headed Woodpecker
Picus canus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPiciformes (Woodpeckers and Allies)
- FamilyPicidae (Woodpeckers)
- GenusPicus (Green Woodpeckers and Allies)
- SpeciesPicus canus (Grey-headed Woodpecker)
About the Grey-headed Woodpecker
The grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus), also known as the grey-faced woodpecker, is a Eurasian member of the woodpecker family, Picidae. Along with the more commonly found European green woodpecker and the Iberian green woodpecker, it is one of three closely related species found in Europe. Its distribution also stretches across large parts of the central and Eastern Palaearctic, all the way to the Pacific Ocean and south to the Himalaya and the Malay Peninsula.
The grey-headed woodpecker is more demanding than the European green woodpecker in terms of its habitat. It prefers deciduous forest with a high proportion of dead trees, feeding primarily on ants, although not being as exclusively dependent on this group as the green woodpecker. The grey-headed woodpecker's nest is typically excavated into dead or severely damaged trees.
In the majority of areas for which population numbers are available, the grey-headed woodpecker is in decline. IUCN's Least Concern rating is primarily based on the large distribution of the species. The grey-headed woodpecker was formally described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788 in the 13th edition of the Systema... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Plitvice Lakes National Park
Green Woodpecker
Picus viridis
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos major
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocoptes medius
White-backed Woodpecker
Dendrocopos leucotos
Black Woodpecker
Dryocopus martius
Eurasian Wryneck
Jynx torquilla
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Dryobates minor
Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker
Picoides tridactylus
Syrian Woodpecker
Dendrocopos syriacus
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Plitvice Lakes National Park?
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-headed Woodpecker sighting in Plitvice Lakes National Park, based on 49 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Grey-headed Woodpecker in Plitvice Lakes National Park?
March has the highest sighting rate for Grey-headed Woodpecker in Plitvice Lakes National Park in our monthly data.