Green Woodpecker

Reprint of an article that appeared in the Summer 2011 Edition of Common Ground.

By Bettina Cassidy.

I’ve been threatening the Editor with crows for quite some time, but so far I’ve been dissuaded on the grounds that they’re black, and not very interesting to colour in. In the quest to escape crows for yet another issue, I was taken for a walk on the Common to investigate possible alternatives. “Have you done woodpeckers yet?” he asked hopefully. “I’ve done Great Spotted; you don’t get the green ones here,” I confidently replied. No sooner had the words left my lips, than that unmistakeable mocking laugh rang out from the trees – right on cue!

Green woodpeckers are one of those species which are more likely to be heard and not seen. A pity, because there are few birds which could claim to match them in the beauty stakes – if you spy an exotic-looking bird and think someone’s pet parrot’s escaped, chances are it’s a green woodpecker. Whoever coined the phrase “red and green should never be seen,” obviously wasn’t much of an ornithologist.

Unlike all the other woodpecker species, the Green Woodpecker won’t be heard drumming on a tree trunk, because he has a comparatively weak beak. He prefers to stay on the ground, stabbing his beak into an anthill, and if you want to find him on the Common, you’ll be most likely to spot him lurking around the anthills near Wellington Rocks. But not for long – you’re only likely to catch a brief glimpse of his bright yellow rump, swooping for cover into a tree in his characteristic undulating fashion.

Our fascination with the woodpecker goes back a long way, it’s said that a woodpecker ruled the world until Zeus took the sceptre from him. Picus – its Latin name – was the ancient god of fertility. In Britain, he has a strong association with our ancient orchards, which is why Bulmer’s used his image for their famous cider after it.

Another of our celebrity Green Woodpeckers is, of course, the wonderful Professor Yaffle from Bagpuss. Yaffle is in fact the woodpecker’s old English folk name, an onomatopoeic reference to its laughing call. There have been recorded no fewer than 400 Olde English names for the woodpecker, but few have survived down the ages. Some people, however, will still use the term “rainbird”, stemming from their supposed ability to bring on rain. This alleged talent is not just limited to our British birds, as the French name Pluie-pluie-pluie would suggest.