The sound is bright and harsh, almost metallic. It’s clear something hollow is being hammered, and not by accident. A quick glance confirms the suspicion: a Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is chiseling away at a wooden bird nest box. Not on a tree trunk, as expected, but right around the entrance hole of a box meant for smaller birds. The inhabitant, likely a tit, is in trouble. If there is someone inside! Outside sits the Woodpecker—focused, relentless, and fully committed. When the Great Spotted Woodpecker decides to get in, it usually does.
The Great Spotted Woodpecker is one of the most widespread and adaptable woodpecker species across Europe and parts of Asia. Its anatomical adaptations—especially its robust, chisel-shaped bill and reinforced skull—allow it to excavate dead wood, living trees, and increasingly, artificial structures like nest boxes. While traditionally used for foraging or nesting, these nest boxes have become a secondary target: not as shelter, but as access points to prey.
The Great Spotted Woodpecker is omnivorous. Its primary diet consists of insect larvae, wood-boring beetles, ants, and other invertebrates that it extracts from under bark or within decaying wood. During winter, when insects are scarce, it supplements its diet with seeds, nuts, and fruits. However, in spring and summer, its foraging strategy broadens. Eggs and nestlings of other birds—particularly cavity-nesting species—become valuable food sources. Nest boxes used by Tits (Parus spp.), Nuthatches (Sitta europaea), and Flycatchers (Ficedula spp.) are frequent targets.
This behavior is not incidental. The woodpecker’s ability to learn from repeated encounters and adapt its technique to different box designs suggests a cognitive component. Observations show targeted hammering near the entrance or seams of the box, often followed by enlargement of the hole or removal of outer layers.
In the observed case, the individual woodpecker showed high persistence. It fled briefly upon approach but returned minutes later to continue pecking. On the following day, it resumed the work, further widening the entrance hole. Whether it intended to predate the nest or use the box for its own breeding is unclear— the Great Spotted Woodpecker occasionally uses modified boxes when natural cavities are scarce.
What is clear, however, is that the Great Spotted Woodpecker is more than just a forest carpenter. It is a tactical forager, fully capable of exploiting both natural and artificial structures for survival.
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