Great Spotted Woodpecker
Major drummer - explosive 'chick!'
Nothing carries the promise of spring quite like the drumming of a great spotted woodpecker.
Beginning on warmer days in late winter, these brief, resonant bursts are delivered from on high.
This is not the sound of a hole being excavated, which is a more discreet tap-tapping. The drumming is territorial, and it’s the volume and resonance that counts.
For this reason great spotted woodpeckers favour high spots on hollow trunks or branches.
They rather like the metal casing on top of a telegraph pole too. It’s like they’ve found the amp that goes all the way to 11.
In the UK, the great spotted is by far the commonest of our three woodpeckers, and by far the likeliest drummer we will hear.
It’s a short burst, less than a second long, followed by a long pause. This may prompt a sense of anticipation in the listener - did I heard that right? Will it sound again? Has it gone? Ah, there it is again.
It's like a microcosm of the experience of those occasional warm, song-filled days early in the year - the ones that seem so assured of the coming season, only to be supplanted by a convulsion of cold windy weather. The memories of which leave you wondering: did I dream the whole thing up?
Explosive chicks
Whatever the season, the presence of a great spotted woodpecker is often given away by its loud contact call - an exclamatory ‘chick!’.
This is given both in flight and when perched, sometimes insistently. And it’s a sound that can be heard in an increasing number of places, perhaps due to the great spotted woodpecker’s opportunistic tendencies.
While their diet is based on invertebrates prised from under bark or out of rotting wood, they will take other birds’ eggs, and nestlings too. And they don’t mind hanging off a peanut feeder in the garden, which may be the most important factor in their recent success.
So whether you are deep in the woods or at the local park, listen for a drum roll and an explosive chick.
See also: Green Woodpecker
Next week: Blackbird
There’s a Shriek of the Week every Friday. If you know someone who might like a dose of birdsong in their inbox, why not pass it along?
Find more birds by ear in 2023 with Birdsong Academy:
British Birdsong Essentials course (begins 25 Feb)
Free Up With The Birds dawn chorus calls (beginning 18 Feb)
Shriek of the Week - paid version (for regular narrated posts, a monthly live masterclass via Zoom and discounts on in-person events).
Media credits:
Thanks to Hans Veth for the great posted woodpecker image, via Unsplash and Regine Tholen for the green woodpecker, also on Unsplash