European green woodpecker but is made sticky by secretions from the enlarged salivary glands. Heavy, prolonged snow cover makes feeding difficult for the green woodpecker and can result in high mortality, from which it may take 10 years for the population to recover. Ant nests can be located under the snow; one bird was observed to dig 85 cm to reach a nest. 'Professor Yaffle', the wooden bookend character in the 1974 children's animation series "Bagpuss", was based loosely upon the green woodpecker. 'Yaffle' was among many English folk names for the European green woodpecker relating to its laughing call; others include laughing
Little green woodpecker three to four "teeay" notes, and "teerweet". It excavates nests in nests of ants and termites. It breeds in August and possibly in March and April. Logging and clearing of forests appears to be causing a population increase because the bird prefers open habitats. The species has a large range and increasing population, so the IUCN has assessed it as a least-concern species. Little green woodpecker The little green woodpecker or golden-backed woodpecker ("Campethera maculosa") is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in Africa, living in forest edges, clearings, and forest-shrub mosaics. The International Union