---
title: "Black Woodpecker"
description: "Dryocopus martius — Uccelli. The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/black-woodpecker
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Black Woodpecker

> Dryocopus martius — Uccelli. The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic.

- Scientific name: *Dryocopus martius*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta)
- iNaturalist observations: 26098
- Wikidata: [Q143284](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q143284)
- iNaturalist taxon: [17835](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/17835)

## Names

- en: Black Woodpecker
- de: Schwarzspecht
- es: Picamaderos negro
- fr: Pic noir
- nl: Zwarte specht
- pt: Pica-pau-preto
- pl: Dzięcioł czarny

## Countries with the most observations

RU (9613), DE (2539), IT (1238), AT (1123), FR (975), FI (741), PL (693), CZ (553), UA (531), SE (295), LT (242), HU (221)

## Summary

The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region, and its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the largest woodpecker species in Europe as well as in the portion of Asia where it lives and is one of the largest species worldwide. This non-migratory species tends to make its home in old-growth forest or large forest stands and excavates a large tree hole to reside in.  In turn, several species rely on black woodpeckers to secondarily reside in the holes made in trees by…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_woodpecker

## Photo

![Black Woodpecker](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/black-woodpecker/medium.jpg)

Photo: Olsza Borys · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/119085788

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/black-woodpecker?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).