Latin: Picoides tridactylus (Linné 1758)
Svenska: Tretåig hackspett
Deutsch: Dreizehenspecht
A woodpecker with an odd habit
The three-toed woodpecker has an odd habit: it pecks small holes in rings around spruce trees. When the woodpecker returns to the tree later, it can drink the sap trickling down from the holes. It completes its meal with beetles, spiders, and other critters that it finds on the tree’s trunk.
Three-toed woodpeckers are unusual in Uppland, but might be found in coniferous and mixed forests. Their population in Uppland has been declining in recent years.
These birds stay in Uppland all through the winter.
Photo: Bertil Sundberg ©
Latest sightings of three-toed woodpeckers in Uppland
NatureGate on the three-toed woodpecker
Wikipedia article about the three-toed woodpecker