Listen to the black woodpecker
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the black woodpecker
The black woodpecker is a bird in the family Picidae (order Piciformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults weigh around 12 g.
What does the black woodpecker sound like?
Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
The recordings here are labelled as call, flight call and drumming. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region, and its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the largest woodpecker species in Europe as well as in the portion of Asia where it lives and is one of the largest species worldwide. This non-migratory species tends to make its home in old-growth forest or large forest stands and excavates a large tree hole to reside in. In turn, several species rely on black woodpeckers to secondarily reside in the holes made in trees by them. This woodpecker's diet consists mostly of carpenter ants. 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, also being similar to the white-bellied woodpecker which is distributed to the south somewhat of the black woodpecker in Asia.
Related birds in the genus Dryocopus
More from the family Picidae
Great spotted woodpecker
Dendrocopos major
Eurasian wryneck
Jynx torquilla
European green woodpecker
Picus viridis
Lesser spotted woodpecker
Dryobates minor
Grey-headed woodpecker
Picus canus
Eurasian three-toed woodpecker
Picoides tridactylus
Northern flicker
Colaptes auratus
Black-rumped flameback
Dinopium benghalense
Red-headed woodpecker
Melanerpes erythrocephalus
Acorn woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorus
Frequently asked questions
What does a black woodpecker sound like?
You can hear 6 recordings of the black woodpecker on this page, including its call, flight call and drumming. Bird vocalisations are usually divided into songs – longer, often complex phrases used to defend territory and attract mates, sung mostly by males in the breeding season – and calls: short, simple sounds for contact, alarm, begging or flight.
Is the black woodpecker endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the black woodpecker as “least concern”.
What family does the black woodpecker belong to?
The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) belongs to the family Picidae in the order Piciformes.
Sources & credits
- Dryocopus martius spring call kuikuikuikui by Alexander Kürthy – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call · Pod grúne - Volovec, Slovakia by Alexander Kurthy – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Flight call · Béruges, Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France by Benoît Van Hecke – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call · Nordsachsen (near Cavertitz), Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany by Klaus-Jürgen Papke – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Schwarzspecht (Dryocopus martius) - Schwerin (Franzosenweg) 2023-03-22 08 29 15 by MVmath20 – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Drumming · Suchý vrch, Starovodská dolina, Stará voda,Švedlár… by Alexander Kürthy – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q143284 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Black woodpecker – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Alastair Rae from London, United Kingdom – CC BY-SA 2.0