# Grey-headed woodpecker (*Picus canus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-headed-woodpecker  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

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. 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.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 137 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 7.67 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 7.7 years |
| Main food | caterpillar, formica, grylloidea, lasius, myrmicinae, termite |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 15.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 6 – 7.5 |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Perching |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Piciformes
- family: Picidae
- genus: Picus
- species: *Picus 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*

## Common questions

### 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

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-headed-woodpecker