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Green Woodpecker
Picus viridisJFMAMJJASOND
The 'yaffle': it sounds like someone laughing at you from across the park.
Birds / Woodpeckers
Green Woodpecker
Picus viridisAlso known as European green woodpecker and Yaffle
Recording: our own Vi Natura listening station
Sounds like
A loud, ringing laugh, 'kyu-kyu-kyu-kyu-kyu', falling slightly towards the end. It very rarely drums.
Remember it
The 'yaffle': it sounds like someone laughing at you from across the park.
When and where
Listening for the green woodpecker
- Heard
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAll year round
- Time of day
- Day
- Where
- Woodland, Farmland, Gardens, Towns
- In Britain
- All year
- Family
- Woodpeckers
Side by side
Often confused with
Play them one after the other and listen for the difference.
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos majorJFMAMJJASOND
A single 'kik!' from the treetops, like a pebble tapped on glass. Its drumming is a quick drum-roll, over in a second, not the slow tapping of a bird feeding.
Could you pick out a green woodpecker?
Hear a song, choose from four birds, and build your streak.
Same habitat
Also in woodland
Blackbird
Turdus merulaJFMAMJJASOND
Slow, rich, fluting phrases that wander about and often trail off into a quiet chuckle.
Blue Tit
Cyanistes caeruleusJFMAMJJASOND
Two or three thin, high notes followed by a fast, shimmering trill: 'tsee-tsee-tsuhuhuhu'.
Carrion Crow
Corvus coroneJFMAMJJASOND
A harsh, hoarse 'kraa-kraa-kraa', usually three or four calls in a row from a treetop, rooftop or aerial, each one flat and croaky.
Dunnock
Prunella modularisJFMAMJJASOND
A hurried, flat, squeaky warble that stays on one level and stops abruptly, like a squeaky wheel turning.