---
title: "Groene specht"
description: "Picus viridis — Vogels. The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis), also known as the yaffle and sometimes called a nickle, is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/eurasian-green-woodpecker
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Groene specht

> Picus viridis — Vogels. The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis), also known as the yaffle and sometimes called a nickle, is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache.

- Scientific name: *Picus viridis*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos), `grassland` (Weiden en velden)
- iNaturalist observations: 38330
- Wikidata: [Q166171](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q166171)
- iNaturalist taxon: [144243](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/144243)

## Names

- en: Eurasian Green Woodpecker
- de: Grünspecht
- es: Carpintero verde
- fr: Pic vert
- nl: Groene specht
- pt: Pica-pau-verde
- pl: Dzięcioł zielony

## Countries with the most observations

DE (5742), FR (3552), GB (3498), IT (2694), RU (2524), AT (1622), CZ (1350), PL (798), CH (793), BE (438), LU (437), NL (416)

## Summary

The European green woodpecker (Picus viridis), also known as the yaffle and sometimes called a nickle, is a large green woodpecker with a bright red crown and a black moustache. Males have a red centre to the moustache stripe which is absent in females. It is resident across much of Europe and the western Palearctic but in Spain and Portugal it is replaced by the similar Iberian green woodpecker (Picus sharpei).
The European green woodpecker spends much of its time feeding on ants on the ground and does not often 'drum' on trees like other woodpecker species. Though its vivid green and red plumage is particularly…

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

## Photo

![Groene specht](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/eurasian-green-woodpecker/medium.jpg)

Photo: Yehor Yatsiuk · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/49052812

## Machine access

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