Picus viridis
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on John Cox's illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis), also known as the yaffle and sometimes called a nickle, is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the western Palearctic but in Spain and Portugal it is replaced by the similar Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei).
The European green woodpecker spends much of its time feeding on ants on the ground and does not often 'drum' on trees like other woodpecker species. Though its vivid green and red plumage is particularly striking, it is a shy bird, and is more often heard than seen, drawing attention with its loud calls. A nest hole is excavated in a tree; four to six eggs are laid which hatch after 19–20 days.
The European green woodpecker was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under its current binomial name Picus viridis. The type locality is Sweden. The scientific name is derived from the Latin picus, meaning "woodpecker", and viridis meaning "green". It is member of the order Piciformes and the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 5 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 8 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 9 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 10 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 11 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 12 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 13 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 14 | Plitvice Lakes National Park | 🇭🇷 Croatia | |
| 15 | Tatra National Park | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | |
| 16 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 17 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 18 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 19 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AQUA Akvarium & Dyrepark | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 2 | Bristol Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Green Woodpecker sighting in Hortobágy National Park on a given day, based on 51 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 125th most-seen of the 202 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Green Woodpecker in Hortobágy National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May–June and November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 19
Of the 19 parks where we can rate Green Woodpecker sightings, Hortobágy National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cévennes National Park (France, about 30%), Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 30%) and Ecrins National Park (France, about 30%).
Same family: Picidae
The closest relatives of the Green Woodpecker that you can see in Hortobágy National Park (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Great Spotted Woodpecker (about 30%), Syrian Woodpecker (about 10%) and Black Woodpecker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Hortobágy National Park (51 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
