Eurasian wryneck
Jynx torquilla Linnaeus, 1758
The Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla) is a small bird in the family Picidae, subfamily Jynginae, within the order Piciformes. It is a migratory, terrestrial invertivore of woodland habitat, with an adult body mass of 35 g and a wingspan of 26 cm.
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the Eurasian wryneck
Its clutches hold 8.5 eggs, up to 9.2, with an incubation period of 12.4 days and 1.5 clutches per year. The IUCN lists the Eurasian wryneck as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 35 g – 38.8 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 16 cm – 18 cmsrc for Length
- Wingspan
- 26 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 10 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- arthropodssrc for Main food
- Habitat
- woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12.4 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 8.5 – 9.2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the Eurasian wryneck?
Photos of the Eurasian wryneck
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the Eurasian wryneck live?
Not recorded
What is the Eurasian wryneck?
The Eurasian wryneck or northern wryneck (Jynx torquilla) is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. It mainly breeds in temperate regions of Europe and Asia. Most populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa and in southern Asia from Iran to the Indian subcontinent, but some are resident in northwestern Africa. It is a bird of open countryside, woodland and orchards.
Eurasian wrynecks measure about 16–18 cm (6.3–7.1 in) in length and have bills shorter and less dagger-like than those of other woodpeckers. Their upperparts are barred and mottled in shades of pale brown with rufous and blackish bars and wider black streaks. Their underparts are cream speckled and spotted with brown. Their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or on the ground. The eggs are white as is the case with many birds that nest in holes and a clutch of seven to ten eggs is laid during May and June.
These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads through almost 180 degrees. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display.
From the Wikipedia article “Eurasian wryneck” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurasian_wryneck&oldid=1371842341), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the Eurasian wryneck sound like?
Is the Eurasian wryneck endangered?
The Eurasian wryneck is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the Eurasian wryneck classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPiciformes
- familyPicidae
- genusJynx
- SpeciesJynx torquilla Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Jynx torquila, Jynx torquilla incognita, Jynx torquilla intermedia, Jynx torquilla pallidior, Torquilla striata, Yunx torquilla
Other names and names in other languages (102)
- European wryneckEnglish
- European wryneckEnglish
- Northern wryneckEnglish
- WryneckEnglish
- WryneckEnglish
- Wryneck, eurasian wryneckEnglish
- لواء أوراسيArabic
- لَّوَّاء أوراسيArabic
- RetuertoAragonese
- لواء اوراسىEgyptian Arabic
- Adi buruqboyunAzerbaijani
- БорғандаҡBashkir
- КруцігалоўкаBelarusian
- КруцiгалоўкаBelarusian
- ВъртошийкаBulgarian
- মেঠো কাঠঠোকরাBangla
- PenngammBreton
- Penngamm EuraziaBreton
- ColltortCatalan
- colltort comúCatalan
- ШокшыгекMari
- МӑйпӑранChuvash
- МăйпăранChuvash
- krutihlav obecnýCzech
- PengamWelsh
- PengeimionWelsh
- VendehalsDanish
- WendehalsGerman
- ΣτραβολαίμηςGreek
- eŭrazia koltorduloEsperanto
- Carpintero torcecuelloSpanish
- Torcecuello euroasiáticoSpanish
- väänkaelEstonian
- LepitzuliBasque
- دارکوب قهوه ایPersian
- käenpiikaFinnish
- Snú?urkrikiFaroese
- snúðurkrikiFaroese
- TorcolFrench
- Torcol fourmilierFrench
- DreierfögelNorthern Frisian
- DraainekkeWestern Frisian
- Cam-mhuinIrish
- GeòcairScottish Gaelic
- Peto formigueiroGalician
- Mwannal camManx
- סבראשHebrew
- vijoglavCroatian
- nyaktekercsHungarian
- ՎիզգցուկArmenian
- GauktítaIcelandic
- TorcicolloItalian
- アリスイJapanese
- ჩვეულებრივი მაქციაGeorgian
- ДүпілдекKazakh
- 개미잡이Korean
- PynnykCornish
- DréihälschenLuxembourgish
- eurazinė grąžiagalvėLithuanian
- GrąžiagalvėLithuanian
- tītiņšLatvian
- GrozgalvītisLatvian
- аҥагайыкMari
- вртивраткаMacedonian
- കഴുത്തുപിരിയൻകിളിMalayalam
- သစ်တောက် လည်လိမ်Burmese
- DreihhalsLow German
- खरलाहाँचेNepali
- DraaihalsDutch
- Käinpiiguolo
- КъубалтилOssetic
- Tord-coPicard
- krętogłów (zwyczajny)Polish
- KrętogłówPolish
- Torcicolo-comumPortuguese
- TorcicoloPortuguese
- torcicolo-eurasiáticoPortuguese
- CapîntorturăRomanian
- ВертишейкаRussian
- ВертиголовкаRussian
- Обыкновенная вертишейкаRussian
- Абааһы чыычааҕаYakut
- GiegabiigáNorthern Sami
- giegabahtasihkkuNorthern Sami
- giegacizášNorthern Sami
- krutihlav hnedýSlovak
- krutohlav hnedýSlovak
- vijeglavkaSlovenian
- VijoglavaSerbian
- ВијоглаваSerbian
- göktytaSwedish
- นกคอพันThai
- BoyunçevirenTurkish
- Bayağı boyunburanTurkish
- крутиголовка звичайнаUkrainian
- StorzicòlVenetian
- Vẹo cổVietnamese
- 蚁䴕Chinese
- 地啄木Chinese
- 地啄木〔蟻鴷〕Chinese
- 蚁鴷Chinese
- 蟻鴷Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the Eurasian wryneck
Other species in the same genus Jynx.
Red-throated wryneck
Jynx ruficollis
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the Eurasian wryneck?
The Eurasian wryneck is a bird in the family Picidae and the order Piciformes. It belongs to the subfamily Jynginae and the genus Jynx.
How heavy is the Eurasian wryneck?
The Eurasian wryneck has an adult body mass of 35 g, with values up to 38.8 g reported. Its wingspan is 26 cm.
What does the Eurasian wryneck eat?
The Eurasian wryneck is an invertivore, placed at the carnivore trophic level.
How many eggs does the Eurasian wryneck lay?
The Eurasian wryneck lays clutches of 8.5 eggs, with up to 9.2 reported, and has 1.5 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 12.4 days.
How long does the Eurasian wryneck live?
The lifespan of the Eurasian wryneck is given as 10 years. It reaches sexual maturity at 1 year, with reported values from 364.2 to 365 days.
Is the Eurasian wryneck migratory?
Yes, the Eurasian wryneck is migratory. It lives in woodland and has a geographic range of 17,650,000 km².
Who named the Eurasian wryneck?
The Eurasian wryneck was named Jynx torquilla by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-wryneck
“Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-wryneck.
@misc{eurasian_wryneck_2026,
title = {Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-wryneck},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}