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Bird✓ Protected species

Woodpecker

Picidae spp.

✓What to do NOW

  1. 1Pick up gently, holding the wings closed against the body
  2. 2The beak is powerful — protect your eyes
  3. 3Dark box with ventilation holes, soft cloth on the bottom
  4. 4After a glass collision: dark and silence for 1–2 hours — they often recover on their own
  5. 5Contact CRAS if after 2 hours it is unable to fly

✗NEVER do this

  • ✗Do not give food without CRAS guidance: the diet (insect larvae, ants) is very specific
  • ✗Do not expose to bright light
  • ✗Do not try to feed seeds or fruit — not the correct diet for all woodpeckers

⚠ Important note

Woodpeckers are among the birds most often hit by glass panels, especially the great spotted woodpecker which visits garden feeders. After a collision it may appear dead: keep in dark and silence, they often recover within 1–2 hours. The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is the largest and rarest species — every recovery must be urgently reported to CRAS.

⚖ Legal protection

All Italian woodpecker species are protected by the Birds Directive and Law 157/1992.

Also known as

great spotted woodpeckergreen woodpeckerblack woodpeckerwrynecklesser spotted woodpecker

Did you find a woodpecker right now?

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