Grey-headed Woodpecker

Grey-headed Woodpecker

Picus canus

Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on John Cox's illustration · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Nanjing

In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%

148 Verified sightings at Nanjing
3,350 In all 21 parks From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Grey-headed Woodpecker

The grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus), also known as the grey-faced woodpecker, is a Eurasian member of the woodpecker family, Picidae. Along with the more commonly found European green woodpecker and the Iberian green woodpecker, it is one of three closely related species found in Europe. Its distribution also stretches across large parts of the central and Eastern Palaearctic, all the way to the Pacific Ocean and south to the Himalaya and the Malay Peninsula.

The grey-headed woodpecker is more demanding than the European green woodpecker in terms of its habitat. It prefers deciduous forest with a high proportion of dead trees, feeding primarily on ants, although not being as exclusively dependent on this group as the green woodpecker. The grey-headed woodpecker's nest is typically excavated into dead or severely damaged trees.

In the majority of areas for which population numbers are available, the grey-headed woodpecker is in decline. IUCN's Least Concern rating is primarily based on the large distribution of the species. The grey-headed woodpecker was formally described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788 in the 13th edition of the Systema... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:06

China · 2026

© Bo Shunqi 薄顺奇 · XC1172774 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:04

Germany · 2026

© Andrea Meltzer · XC1105440 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:48

Sweden · 2026

© Lars Edenius · XC1084311 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
~40%
2 Royal Manas National Park 🇧🇹 Bhutan
~20%
3 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~20%
4 Plitvice Lakes National Park 🇭🇷 Croatia
~20%
5 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
6 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~10%
7 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
8 Jiuzhaigou National Park 🇨🇳 China
~10%
9 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
10 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
11 Namdapha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
12 Royal Bardia National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~10%
13 Gauja National Park 🇱🇻 Latvia
~10%
14 Cat Tien National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~10%
15 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%
16 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
<5%
17 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
<5%
18 Fertő-Hanság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
<5%
19 Khao Yai National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
<5%
20 Langtang National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
<5%
21 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Beijing 🇨🇳 China
~50%
2 Luoyang 🇨🇳 China
~30%
3 Seoul 🇰🇷 South Korea
~30%
4 Guiyang 🇨🇳 China
~30%
5 Daejeon 🇰🇷 South Korea
~30%
6 Jinan 🇨🇳 China
~30%
7 Gwangju 🇰🇷 South Korea
~30%
8 Xining 🇨🇳 China
~20%
9 Busan 🇰🇷 South Korea
~20%
10 Nanjing 🇨🇳 China
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Wildwald Voßwinkel 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
2 Alpenzoo Innsbruck 🇦🇹 Austria In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Nanjing?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-headed Woodpecker sighting in Nanjing on a given day, based on 148 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 35th most-seen of the 162 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Nanjing?

July and December

In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-headed Woodpecker in Nanjing on a given day, against about 10% in April and September, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Grey-headed Woodpecker?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey-headed Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Nanjing the best place to see a Grey-headed Woodpecker?

10th of 34

Of the 34 cities where we can rate Grey-headed Woodpecker sightings, Nanjing ranks 10th at about 20%. The best odds are in Beijing (China, about 50%), Luoyang (China, about 30%) and Seoul (South Korea, about 30%).

Which relatives of the Grey-headed Woodpecker live in Nanjing?

Same family: Picidae

The closest relatives of the Grey-headed Woodpecker that you can see in Nanjing (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Grey-capped Woodpecker (about 40%), Great Spotted Woodpecker (about 30%) and Speckled Piculet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Grey-headed Woodpecker sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Grey-headed Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Nanjing (148 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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