European green woodpecker hole is excavated in a tree; four to six eggs are laid which hatch after 19–20 days. The European green woodpecker measures 30–36 cm in length with a 45–51 cm wingspan. Both sexes are green above and pale yellowish green below, with yellow rump and red crown and nape; the moustachial stripe has a red centre in the male but is solid black in the female. The lores and around the white eye are black in both male and female, except in the Iberian race "P. v." subsp. "sharpei", in which it is dark grey and males have only a
Green-backed woodpecker upper parts, spotted with cream or yellow, and buff or white underparts, boldly spotted with black, and flanks barred with black. The tail is green with individual feathers having brownish shafts. There is a white supercilium, the eye ring is grey, the iris chestnut, the beak grey tipped with black and the legs and feet grey or olive. The juvenile is similar to the female in appearance, although the nape may have little red. The green-backed woodpecker is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana,