page_title: Black woodpecker
section_title: Behaviour and ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Black woodpecker / Behaviour and ecology
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Schwarzspecht Dryocopus martius, Ei, Coll. Museum Wiesbaden, Fundort: Ämäl, Schweden, 25.04.1963, leg. W. Abelmann English: Black woodpecker Dryocopus martius, egg, Coll. Museum Wiesbaden, Origin: Ämäl, Sweden, 25.04.1963, leg. W. Abelmann
context_page_description: The black woodpecker is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding. It does not migrate. This species is closely related to, and fills the same ecological niche in Europe as, the pileated woodpecker of North America and the lineated woodpecker of South America.
context_section_description: The woodpecker feeds by using its bill to hammer on dead trees to dig out carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle grubs. The selection of foods is relatively predictable, narrow and consistent in this species. Like all woodpeckers, this species has a specially adapted neck containing very strong muscles, which allow it to endlessly hack away at tree bark. Due to the size of its bill and large size and great physical power of this bird, it can access prey fairly deep within a tree. In order to position itself correctly, it has short, stumpy legs, as well as long, sharp claws and very stiff tail feathers. The woodpecker will more than likely choose for its nest a tree with a fungal disease, such as heart rot, although some will utilise a living, healthy tree. Once a hole has been made, the black woodpecker chips downwards through the trunk of the tree, creating a nesting chamber, the only lining being the woodchips created throughout the process. The black woodpecker's excavations provide homes for many other species of bird and mammal, and is therefore considered to be a "keystone" species in many of its habitats throughout its range. It not only provides habitats for other species, but also controls populations of wood-boring insects, helping to protect the trees.
  When the nest is ready, the female lays a single clutch of two to eight eggs, the average being four to six. The nest hole is usually dug in a live poplar or pine tree. The breeding pair take it in turns to incubate the eggs, also sharing duties of feeding and brooding the chicks once they have hatched. The nestlings may fight their way to the entrance of the nest in order to be fed first. After 18 to 35 days, the young black woodpeckers will leave the nest, staying with the adults for another week.
caption: Egg, Collection Museum Wiesbaden
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