By Mariano Gómez · Updated on 11 October 2026

Birds

Eurasian Wryneck, the woodpecker that does not drill and twists its neck like a snake

Jynx torquillaHear its song0:17

Photo gallery of the Eurasian Wryneck

Identification of the Eurasian Wryneck

The Eurasian Wryneck is a small woodpecker, of characteristic appearance and with notable morphological peculiarities that set it apart from the other woodpeckers, within whose family it forms a separate subfamily. In contrast to the sharply contrasting colours of other woodpeckers, it wears a very cryptic livery, greyish brown and profusely marked with spots and bars, which at once recalls that of nightjars or nocturnal birds of prey. There is hardly any sexual dimorphism, and its general appearance is quite different from that of other woodpeckers: it resembles a passerine, because it tends to hop about on the ground, prefers to perch on horizontal branches rather than on trunks, and lacks features typical of the group, such as the stiff tail feathers, replaced by long soft feathers, and the stout bill for drilling wood, something it never attempts.

Adult

• Greyish brown, with spots and bars.
• Long soft tail feathers and a bill too weak to drill.

Habitat and distribution of the Eurasian Wryneck

It is distributed across the Palearctic, from the temperate regions of Europe to the boreal areas and across most of Asia as far as Japan, with isolated breeding areas in North Africa and eastern Asia. Several subspecies have been described.

In Spain it is fairly widely spread over the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, although it is more frequent in the northern half of the Peninsula, a good part of the Levante and Mallorca. It is rare in the Cantabrian strip and Galicia, as well as in the central area, with very scattered populations, while in the south it occurs at some density in a few centres of different Andalusian ranges. It is absent from the Canaries, Ceuta and Melilla.

Like all woodpeckers, it needs some forest cover, but unlike many of them it does not require large expanses of mature forest. It prefers partly wooded areas, with riverside groves, woodlots or dehesas, and readily settles in orchards, fruit trees, gardens and even urban parks.

Unlike other woodpeckers, it is migratory or partly migratory. Birds from northern and central Europe leave the breeding areas to spend the winter in central Africa and southern Asia. In Spain it has partly migratory habits and makes movements of moderate range in winter, although in some areas it is entirely sedentary. The Peninsula and the Balearics are regular passage areas: post-breeding migration takes place between the end of August and early October, sometimes later, and pre-breeding passage is already detected in March.

Etymology of the Eurasian Wryneck

According to Wikipedia, Linnaeus described it in 1758, and the type specimen came from Sweden. The genus «Jynx» comes from the Ancient Greek name of this bird, «iunx», and the epithet «torquilla» is Medieval Latin, derived from «torquere», «to twist», and alludes to the odd head movements that recall those of a snake. In other languages it is called «colltort comú» in Catalan, «peto formigueiro» in Galician, «lepitzulia» in Basque and «Eurasian wryneck» in English¹.

Population of the Eurasian Wryneck

In Europe a population of between 1.6 and 3 million individuals has been estimated (European Red List of Birds 2021), of which some 180,000 would be in Spain (Third Atlas of Breeding Birds in Spain 2021). The trend seems to be one of decline: although its range in Spain seems to have grown, the SACRE programme data show falls of around 40% between 1998 and 2018, above all in the Eurosiberian region and the northern Mediterranean one. In Great Britain it was considered almost extinct in the 1990s, and in Sweden and Finland its populations fell by 50% at the end of the 20th century.

Its main problem is the decline in ant populations due to insecticides, which can also poison it, and to agricultural intensification. It is sensitive to the loss of the trees it breeds in and to adverse weather, and the Spanish population has suffered a decline of 41.1% over three generations according to SACRE. As conservation measures it is proposed to include it in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species as Vulnerable, to conserve fallows and farming mosaics with large scattered trees, to protect riverside woods and to restrict pesticides.

Nest of the Eurasian Wryneck

Unlike other woodpeckers it cannot drill wood, so it thoroughly inspects the nooks of its territory until it chooses a suitable hole, usually an old nest of a Great Spotted Woodpecker or a Green Woodpecker, where it lays its eggs without adding any material. Sometimes it also occupies nest boxes, burrows in sandy banks or cavities in walls.

Courtship and breeding of the Eurasian Wryneck

From the start of the breeding season, normally in April or early May, it marks out its territory with calls and looks for a suitable cavity. It lays between 7 and 10 white eggs, which are incubated mostly by the female. The chicks hatch after 12–14 days of incubation and stay in the cavity for about 20–22 days, the time they need to develop fully. It is not unusual for the pair then to lay a second clutch, sometimes even before the first chicks of the season have flown.

Diet of the Eurasian Wryneck

Its diet is based largely on ants in all their life stages, which it catches with its long tongue, probing the galleries under logs or between stones. Besides ants, it eats a good number of other invertebrates, which it catches on the ground, on tree branches and even in flight.

Curious facts about the Eurasian Wryneck

It is considered the most atypical representative of the woodpecker family in Europe: it cannot drill wood and behaves more like a passerine, although it keeps the cave-dwelling habits and the long tongue with which it raids ant nests¹. According to Wikipedia, its English name, «wryneck», alludes to its ability to turn the head almost 180 degrees, and when disturbed at the nest it threatens by twisting its neck like a snake and hissing.

The Eurasian Wryneck in Cabañeros

The habitat pages of this website do not mention it, and we have found no other published source about it in the Park. GBIF.org records 11 observations of the Eurasian Wryneck in Cabañeros and its surroundings.

Where to see the Eurasian Wryneck in Cabañeros

In Cabañeros and its surroundings, in spring and summer, in dehesas, riverside groves and orchards with scattered trees.

When

Present in Spain almost all year, with migration passage in March and from the end of August to early October.

What time

By day, on the ground, where it looks for ants.

Where

In partly wooded areas: riverside groves, woodlots, dehesas, orchards and gardens.

What to look for

Look for its cryptic plumage and how it perches on horizontal branches; listen for its nasal «ki, ki, ki, ki».

Videos of the Eurasian Wryneck

Similar species to the Eurasian Wryneck

Eurasian Hobby

Falco subbuteo

How to tell them apart

It is similar in song, which can resemble that of the Wryneck¹.

Photo: yves hoebeke, CC BY-SA 2.0

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Dryobates minor

How to tell them apart

It is not clearly similar, although it is another woodpecker: the Wryneck is the most atypical of the European woodpeckers, and its song can resemble that of other woodpeckers¹.

Photo: T.Voekler, CC BY-SA 3.0

Other birds

Bibliography

• Jiménez García-Herrera, José. (2017). Aves de Cabañeros y su entorno. Madrid, Spain: Ecohábitat.
• SEO Birdlife - Sociedad Española de Ornitología
• https://es.wikipedia.org/
• Hume, Rob. (2016). Guía de campo de las Aves de España y Europa. Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Omega