The green woodpecker is a bird of the Picidae family.
The green woodpecker has four subspecies: Picus viridis viridis, Picus viridis karelini, Picus viridis bampurensis, Picus viridis innominatus.
It is possible to observe the green woodpecker in Eurasia; it nests all over Italy, excluding the largest islands, in mountain habitats, however constituted.
The main food of the green woodpecker diet are the ants of the genera Lasius and Formica; occasionally it can feed on other types of insects, small reptiles or larvae. Unlike other species of woodpecker , the Green Woodpecker can only drill wood that is not excessively hard, thus preferring the search for insects on the ground as the main way to obtain its food.
It nests in holes dug in trees from March to early summer: it lays five to seven bright white eggs, which are hatched by both parents for about two weeks.
Distinctive characters
Average weight: 150-250 grams
Length: about 30 cm
Wingspan: about 50 cm
In the upper part it has a dark green plumage, on the rump and lower back yellow and on the lower parts green-light gray. The apex of the head is red, the face is black and 2 black stripes depart from the beak towards the nape, red inside in the male.
