Picus viridis
Charles J. Sharp · London
Picus viridis is found in Georgia throughout the year and nests here. It is not dangerous to people. It often searches for food at forest edges or in nearby meadows. An adult bird is about 30–36 cm long. Its back is olive green, the area above its tail is bright yellowish, and the top of its head is red. Its occurrence is confirmed in Kvemo Kartli, Tbilisi and Kakheti. There are only isolated records in Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Abkhazia, Shida Kartli, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, and Adjara; it is not considered widespread in these regions. Globally, this species faces a low level of threat.
Identification
The green woodpecker is large and easy to spot. It has a red cap, a black “mask”, and bright yellow coloring above its tail. It is most often confused with the grey woodpecker. The main difference is on the head: red covers more of the top of the green woodpecker’s head, while the top of the grey woodpecker’s head is not entirely red.
The green woodpecker is about 30–36 cm long, with a wingspan of 45–51 cm. Its wing measures 150–170 mm, its tail 105–116 mm, and it weighs 185–250 g. Its back is olive green, the feathers above its tail are bright yellow, and its underside is a lighter yellowish green. Both males and females have red on the tops and backs of their heads. A distinct black patch around the pale eye looks like a mask. Like other woodpeckers, it has a straight, strong, chisel-shaped beak.
Adult green woodpeckers can be told apart by the moustache-like stripe on their cheek: in males, the middle of the black stripe is red, while in females the whole stripe is black. Young birds look more mottled. They have many stripes and spots on their bodies, giving their feathers a scaly look. Their green colour and the red feathers on their heads are still visible.
The green woodpecker is most often confused with Picus canus. Picus canus is also found in Georgia year-round, but its head is greyer and the top of its head is not entirely red. The male has only a small red patch on its forehead; the female has none. Dryocopus martius is much larger and almost entirely black. The male has a broad red area on its head, while the female’s red colouring is mainly visible on the back of its head. The large spotted woodpecker, along with the Syrian, medium spotted, white-backed and small spotted woodpeckers, is mainly black and white with red markings. These birds lack the green woodpecker’s olive-green colouring. The wryneck is much smaller, and its brown colouring helps it blend into its surroundings. It nests in Georgia but, unlike the green woodpecker, does not stay all year.
In Georgia, a large, green woodpecker seen on the ground, especially at a forest edge or in a meadow, is often the species called the green woodpecker. Unlike spotted woodpeckers, it often comes down to the ground to look for food.
In 2022, the green woodpecker was also recorded in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park and the protected areas of Pshav-Khevsureti. There, it was mostly seen in forests with open patches and meadows. Pshav-Khevsureti is in Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Records of the green woodpecker in this region do not establish that it is widespread there. In general, the green woodpecker is found where there are both trees and open areas: in deciduous and mixed forests, at forest edges, in floodplain forests, gardens and parks. Open areas with short grass are often nearby, as it frequently searches for food on the ground, especially ants. Dense forest with no open areas is more typical of the black woodpecker than of the green woodpecker.
The European green woodpecker map uses Reptiles.ge editorial photo records and public iNaturalist observations in Georgia. Regions come from the records-by-region table: only confirmed status counts as distribution; otherwise a region is not treated as part of the range. Record counts reflect observation effort, not population density.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
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The green woodpecker mainly eats ants. It usually looks for food on the ground, finding ant nests and eating both adult ants and their larvae. It also eats other insects. It is normal for the large green woodpecker to look for food on a lawn or in a meadow. Unlike spotted woodpeckers, searching for larvae in tree trunks is not its main way of finding food each day.
Related guides
Questions
Short answers to the most important questions about European green woodpecker.
Yes. Picus viridis is found in Georgia. It lives there year-round and nests there.
It occurs at forest edges, in nearby meadows, gardens and parks. Its distribution has been confirmed in Kvemo Kartli, Tbilisi and Kakheti. There is also an isolated record from another region, but it does not confirm its distribution there. Surveys in Borjomi-Kharagauli and Pshav-Khevsureti did not confirm its distribution in those areas either.
The green woodpecker has an olive-green back, bright yellow feathers above its tail, and a black “mask” around its eyes. Males and females can be told apart by the moustache-like stripe on their cheeks: males have red in the middle of the black stripe, while the stripe is entirely black in females. Unlike the grey-headed woodpecker, the green woodpecker has an entirely red crown.
The green woodpecker is about 30–36 cm long, with a wingspan of about 45–51 cm. It weighs about 185–250 g.
It mainly eats ants and often looks for them on the ground.
The green woodpecker lives in Georgia year-round.
The green woodpecker nests in Georgia and stays there year-round.
This bird is not dangerous to people. Worldwide, it faces relatively little threat. It is assessed the same way for Georgia in the 2024 list of Georgia’s birds, but this is not a status on the current Red List. Do not catch wild birds or take them from the wild.
References
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
