European green woodpecker main food of the European green woodpecker is ants of the genera "Lasius" and "Formica" for which it spends much of its time foraging on the ground, though other insects and small reptiles are also taken occasionally. The bird's distinctive, elongated, cylindrical droppings often consist entirely of ant remains. At ant nests, it probes into the ground and licks up adult ants and their larvae. They have tongues that wrap to the back of their head. Green woodpeckers will often forage in short grazed or mown permanent grasslands where the availability of ant nests is high. A study of a
Golden-green woodpecker Golden-green woodpecker The golden-green woodpecker ("Piculus chrysochloros") is a species of bird in the family Picidae, the woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks. It is found in north-central South America, centered on the Amazon Basin in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru and Suriname. A disjunct region of the bird's range occurs in northwestern Colombia and Venezuela. A second disjunct group is found 1,500 km southeast of the Amazon Basin in the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo in an 800 km coastal strip. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and