Grey-headed woodpecker
Picus canus J. F. Gmelin, 1788
The grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus), also called the Grey-faced woodpecker, is a bird of the family Picidae, subfamily Picinae, in the order Piciformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 137 g, a perching, sedentary species of forest habitats.
Quick facts about the grey-headed woodpecker
An invertivore, its main foods are caterpillar, formica, grylloidea, lasius, myrmicinae and termite. It lays one clutch per year of 7.5 eggs, incubated for 15.5 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 137 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 7.67 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- caterpillar, formica, grylloidea, lasius, myrmicinae, termitesrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 15.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 6 – 7.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the grey-headed woodpecker
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the grey-headed woodpecker live?
Not recorded
What is 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.
From the Wikipedia article “Grey-headed woodpecker” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grey-headed_woodpecker&oldid=1346776629), 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 grey-headed woodpecker sound like?
Is the grey-headed woodpecker endangered?
The grey-headed woodpecker 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.
How is the grey-headed woodpecker classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPiciformes
- familyPicidae
- genusPicus
- SpeciesPicus canus J. F. Gmelin, 1788
Synonyms Gecinus canus jacobsii, Picus canus griseoviridis, Picus canus perpallidus, Picus canus ricketti, Picus canus stresemanni, Picus novegicus, Pincus canus
Other names and names in other languages (57)
- Gray-faced woodpeckerEnglish
- Gray-headed woodpeckerEnglish
- Grey-faced woodpeckerEnglish
- نقار الخشب رمادي الرأسArabic
- Сівая жаўнаBelarusian
- Сiвая жаўнаBelarusian
- Сив кълвачBulgarian
- Speg louetBreton
- picot cendrósCatalan
- Кӑвак улатаккаChuvash
- žluna šedáCzech
- cnocell benllwydWelsh
- GråspætteDanish
- GrauspechtGerman
- Σταχτής ΔρυοκολάπτηςGreek
- Griza pegoEsperanto
- grizkapa pegoEsperanto
- Pito canoSpanish
- hallpea-rähnEstonian
- hallpea-rähn e. hallrähnEstonian
- harmaapäätikkaFinnish
- Pic cendréFrench
- Cnagaire ceannliathIrish
- Snoggeyder kione-lheeahManx
- נקר אפור-ראשHebrew
- hamvas küllőHungarian
- Pelatuk muka-kelabuIndonesian
- GráspætaIcelandic
- Picchio cenerinoItalian
- ヤマゲラJapanese
- Боз тоқылдақKazakh
- 청딱다구리Korean
- 청딱따구리Korean
- Groe SpiechtLuxembourgish
- pilkoji meletaLithuanian
- pelēkā dzilnaLatvian
- сивоглав клукајдрвецMacedonian
- Burung Belatuk GunungMalay
- GrijskopspechtDutch
- gråspettNorwegian
- dzięcioł zielonosiwyPolish
- peto-cinzentoPortuguese
- pica-pau-cinzentoPortuguese
- Ghionoaie surăRomanian
- Седой дятелRussian
- RánesčáihniNorthern Sami
- žlna siváSlovak
- pivkaSlovenian
- Siva žolnaSlovenian
- сива жунаSerbian
- Siva žunaSerbian
- นกหัวขวานเขียวหัวดำThai
- Küçük Yeşil AğaçkakanTurkish
- жовна сиваUkrainian
- 綠啄木Chinese
- 灰头绿啄木鸟Chinese
- 綠啄木〔灰頰綠啄木，灰頭綠啄木〕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the grey-headed woodpecker
Other species in the same genus Picus.
Eurasian green woodpecker
Picus viridis
Mock yellownape
Picus chlorolophus
Black-headed woodpecker
Picus erythropygius
Streak-throated woodpecker
Picus xanthopygaeus
Japanese woodpecker
Picus awokera
Scaly-bellied woodpecker
Picus squamatus
CompareGrey-headed woodpecker vs Eurasian green woodpeckerGrey-headed woodpecker vs Mock yellownapeGrey-headed woodpecker vs Black-headed woodpeckerGrey-headed woodpecker vs Streak-throated woodpecker
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 grey-headed woodpecker?
It is a bird of the woodpecker family Picidae, in the order Piciformes.
How heavy is the grey-headed woodpecker?
An adult weighs 137 g, placing it in the small size class.
What does the grey-headed woodpecker eat?
It is an invertivore whose main foods are caterpillar, formica, grylloidea, lasius, myrmicinae and termite.
Is the grey-headed woodpecker endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the grey-headed woodpecker live?
Its lifespan is up to 7.7 years.
How many eggs does the grey-headed woodpecker lay?
It lays 7.5 eggs per clutch, with one clutch per year, and the eggs are incubated for 15.5 days.
Who named the grey-headed woodpecker?
It was named Picus canus by J. F. Gmelin, 1788.
Does the grey-headed woodpecker migrate?
No, it is a sedentary bird.
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). Grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/picus-canus
“Grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/picus-canus.
@misc{picus_canus_2026,
title = {Grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/picus-canus},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}