KOLSTERS J, WOUTERS P & VEER W DE (2014) Diet of the European green Woodpecker Picus viridus in The Southern Netherlands. LIMOSA 87 (2): 74-81.

We studied the diet of the European Green Woodpecker in the province of Noord-Brabant in the southern Netherlands by analysing the contents of droppings. In half open landscapes (arable, gardens) we collected droppings at foraging locations of observed woodpeckers. In woodland we radiotagged one adult nesting male and followed it during three weeks to foraging locations (Fig. 3) where we collected droppings. We also rinsed the contents of two fledged nests and analysed the droppings of the young (which are no longer collected by the parents from several days before fledging onwards), and collected droppings near known nests of Formica ants during winter. In the half open landscape the diet consisted mainly of Lasius niger, both in summer and winter (Tab. 1). Diet of woodpeckers in the forest consisted mainly of the closely related L. platythorax, but was more diversified than in the open landscape. In both landscapes the proportion of Lasius was smaller in winter than during the breeding season. Ant-hillbuilding Formica species were found in the winter diet of the Green Woodpeckers in woodland, but only by 14% of the total number of identified prey. We were surprised to find that the woodland woodpeckers consumed considerable amounts (31%) of Birch Catkin Bugs Kleidocerys resedae in winter.

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