The Wryneck is a rather strange member of the woodpecker family, in fact it exists in its own sub-family. It is fairly small, brown with very complex camouflage colouration that can make it hard to see. It lacks the sturdy bill of true woodpeckers and is often seen on the ground where it will hop in a jerky fashion, often with the tail cocked up, but is generally rather stealthy in its movements. It gets its rather strange name from an ability to flex its neck in different directions, even twisting around to look behind it.
In Switzerland it is not uncommon in gardens, orchards and semi-open country usually up to about 1200m but can occur as high as 2400m. It migrates to Africa in the winter and upon return in the spring it is quite vocal which is often the easiest way to detect it. The call is a nasal "tui-tui-tui" sound somewhat reminiscent of a Green Woodpecker, but also sounding a little like a small falcon. Here are two birds (and I presumed a pair - although males and females are only told apart with difficulty) which were quite close to each other and clearly one is responding to the call of the other - a river is in the background:
If we look at one phrase in the sonogram we can see the harmonics quite clearly, with most of the sound energy at about 3KHz but also see that each note has a slight downward inflection:
Despite its name this species is only slightly smaller than a Greater Spotted but considerably larger than a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. It is one of the less common woodpeckers in Switzerland, we are on the southern edge of its range and it is found only in the lowland northern parts of the country, and populations everywhere are decreasing. In Switzerland its presence largely depends upon the presence of old oak trees (especially pedunculate ("English") oak and sessile oak). When seen the largely white face with a rather lonely black eye gives it a rather innocent appearance.
The literature says that this species rarely drums, and I have never knowingly heard it, but I do have one good recording of the call, rather like a rhythmic and repetitive Greater Spotted:
The sonogram does not tell us much but since this is an uncommon species I include it for academic interest:
Not the biggest of our woodpeckers but common wherever there are
even the smallest groups of trees. The most apparent noise they make is
of course "drumming" with their beaks, often on dead or hollow branches
to get maximum resonance, but they also have distinctive calls as can
be heard in this recording:
The chattering call heard in the previous recording is often when there are two birds close by and interacting. More common is a very sharp call "kwick !" and this I think is the most frequently heard vocalisation of this bird:
When a woopecker drums it is making the mechanical equivalent of a vocal communication, this is one of the few families that can do this and they are able to do so by making good use of the their specialised muscles and strong beak. Often, soon after dawn the drumming of woodpeckers answering each other can be quite evocative, two can be heard doing this, as well as
making their "kwick" calls in this recording made very early in the
morning in April - a Wood Pigeon also calls ("take two cows Taffy" he
calls !) and a Roe Deer objects to my presence by barking at me:
They will specifically drum on hard, dry, dead branches that get plenty of resonance and so the sound carries a long way through the forest. Here you can hear a bird shuffling around on a thin dead tree trying to locate what to it was the perfect drumming spot (NB: I have shortened the space between the drums in this recording)
They are known to use metal poles for drumming as they make a good loud sound, and I once watched one using the support for my neighbours TV antenna ! A nervous reflex system allows them to drum at such fast speeds, and the activity is solely for territorial and mating display. Feeding is an entirely different activity - they excavate softer, usually semi-rotten dead wood for grubs and insects, and then the blows from the beak are much slower and more deliberate - the two should not be confused (NB: in the next recording of a Great Spotted feeding in a rotten tree, there is another "carpenter" of an entirely human kind in the distance about 17 secs in !):
When woodpeckers fly they do so in an undulating manner by flapping
hard, during which they rise slightly, then gliding for a moment during
which they fall slightly. The other day I recorded a Great Spotted
momentarily as it flew over my head, if you listen carefully to this
recording you can hear the wingbeats starting and stopping:
Last Updated on Saturday, 19 June 2010 11:01
GREEN WOODPECKER (Picus viridis)
Pic Vert
With red cap, green wings, pale breast and its dark mask this beautiful bird is a distinctive figure of fields and woodlands.
The Green Woodpeckers yammering call carries a long way through the woods, but it tends to call only very irregularly and unpredictably and so is difficult to record. Here is one recorded in the Bois des Chênes giving four typical territorial calls at about 20s intervals, each call sequence tends to descend slightly in pitch but accelerates in speed towards the end:
The old English name for a Green Woopecker is "yaffle" and it is easy to see why having heard this call. Is this a call or a song ?? In the Green Woodpecker it really serves the function of the song of other species - both announcing territory and advertising for a mate, and seems to be made by both sexes. I have never knowingly heard (or seen !) a Green Woodpecker drumming although the literature says they can do so but rarely, the drum seems to be much weaker than in other species.
They also make a similar but sharper, slightly higher and faster noise which I believe is mostly an alarm or excitement call. It is often heard when a bird is disturbed and frequently made in flight (which can follow being disturbed of course !), it has a much more "yelping" quality to it than the territorial call. Here are three cuts of the same individual bird moving through a wood bordering an open field and giving this occasional call:
The two sounds are quite similar but heard side by side the differences are clear:
although there is rather little to distinguish them on a sonogram:
Fond of attacking ant nests, the Green Woodpecker is unusual in the group in frequently feeding on the ground.
Last Updated on Saturday, 19 June 2010 10:59
BLACK WOODPECKER (Dryocopus martius)
Pic noir
If woodpeckers are one of my favorite families of birds, then within them the Black Woodpecker stands out for me. I remember being fascinated as a child by one of the early TV nature documentaries by a German film-maker called Heinz Sielmann ("My Year with the Woodpeckers") who filmed their nest through a hole at the back of the tree. A remarkable feat in the 1950's which made him justly famous. It would take me another 40 years before I actually saw one !
It is the largest of the woodpeckers in our area, and has a far-carrying ringing, rather mournful cry. When I have seen it call like this it throws its head back as though really trying to get maximum reach - and indeed it can be heard from a long distance. The following track was recorded in March when the melting snow was dripping from the trees, I call it the "kleeer" call:
Another call I have heard from this species seems to be made only when it is flying is a very loud metallic "yammering" noise. The next recording contains two extracts from a longer sequence, in the first 30 secs the bird is sitting and calling, it then moves to a different tree making its flight call and resumes its regular calling. Towards the end of the second part it takes off and flies down the valley where you can hear the call disappearing in the distance.
Two interesting things can be seen from the sonogram of the early part of this piece - the flight call is actually a
series of triple notes which gives it that very nice rattling effect, also if you look carefully at the single calls the note starts with a downward slur, then flattens, before sliding down again at the end, this probably accounts for the "mournful" nature of the sound:
A third call from this species I hear less frequently in the Jura is a loud advertising call, reminiscent of aGreen Woodpecker but with more of a "yelping" quality:
As you can hear at the end of that piece this call is made in flight as well as perched. Here is a sonogram of one phrase from that:
However there is one final noise I find characteristic of the family. Woodpeckers tend to be rather "stiff" birds, with strong legs and rigid tail and muscular body - I guess this supports their lifestyle where their whole body is the avian equivalent of a pneumatic drill. I am often conscious of the noise made by the wings of woodpeckers when they fly. Here is one last file of a bird flying around not far from me, calling relatively gently, but moving from tree to tree and pecking at the rotting wood, listen carefully and the wing noises are evident:
