black woodpecker sighting?

Earlier this morning I was cycling through Ashton Court in Bristol, and heard a woodpecker noise.  I looked over and in a tree hollow there was a medium-sized bird, which looked entirely black, that looked back at me and then turned around to carry on tapping at the tree with its beak.

I've had a look online and this appears to be a black woodpecker, which is unusual for the UK..?  Should I be reporting this anywhere?

  • Hi helsbels and welcome to the forum.

    I have to say I would be extremely sceptical about a sighting of a black woodpecker. They are not on the British List and claims to have seen them in the UK have never really been confirmed. They are quite widespread in Europe and generally inhabit dense mature forest but they never seem to have made it across the Channel.There's a photo of one here. As you can see it has a distinctive red crown.

    Could it have been something like a Jackdaw or Crow?

  • Welcome helsbels.

    One learns to never say never when it comes to birding, but a UK Black Woodpecker is very very unlikely. Woodpeckers, as a rule, don't have any predeliction for long distance travel so the Black Woodpecker population in France is very happy to stay right where it is. Hopping the channel would be a real feat.

    Black Woodpeckers are enormous compared with even our Green Woodpeckers and, as Teejay has said, the red crown is pretty distinctive.

    JBNTS

  • If it is right,and I for one am sceptical,you will be overun with birders.Get the tea stall out you will make a fortune!!

  • thanks for your quick responses.. what I'd like to know, is whether any other bird that's black would tap away at the tree with its beak?

    i dont remember seeing a red crown, but it was within the tree hollow so it may have been in the shadow.  i will have to take my camera in future..

  • Unknown said:
    what I'd like to know, is whether any other bird that's black would tap away at the tree with its beak?

    When you say tapping, do you mean drumming rapidly as a woodpecker does or just pecking? If it was the latter I think there could be many birds that would peck at a tree hollow especially if it was a bit rotten. There are often grubs or beetles in such wood. Alternatively, perhaps it was enlarging a hole for a nest.

    A photo would be good if you can get one.

  • Hi-  just to add again Black Woodpeckers are ENORMOUS :))))

    S

  • Just a thought, jackdaws are hole nesting birds, we have a number occupying tree cavities at the Lodge at the moment, large woodpecker sized with a fairly substantial beak...

  • Hi. I have had a black woodpecker attack my bird feeders. I live in lenham kent.
  • It never ceases to amaze me that people see these extremely rare birds (impossibly rare some of them, I might add) and are quite happy to report the sighting without any photographic proof of any kind to back up their id.

    In a world where we are spoiled by technology with cameras on everything, people still report seeing rare birds, but offer no photographic evidence whatsoever.

    Now, fair enough, the bird might have only appeared for seconds, but the person who reports seeing it for those seconds will be so sure of what they have seen - including amazing details sometimes - that if the bird was only there for 'seconds' then how can they make such a definite id?

    Simple, they can't.

    To claim the sighting of a rare bird it would need to be backed up by photographic evidence or failing that a number of witnesses some of whom would have to be seasoned birders.

    I'm not calling anyone a liar - not at all - all I am saying is that they have made an error.
  • Technology has been around a long time - granted not as long as birds but we've had access to cameras since the 19th century but maybe more in the general public domain since the 1940s so that's a long long time.

    But I'm really on about reports in this day and age - so there's no need to argue about that or cameras.

    And I think we're on different plains here as I'm talking about people with no experience jumping to the wrong conclusions as people with some experience will be more reliable and won't make grand reports of birds of paradise sitting on their back fences.

    By all means people of little to no experience please keep reporting your sightings but (as I've said) don't jump to such massive conclusions - just report what you've seen and we'll help you identify it from there.