Levaillant's woodpecker Levaillant's woodpecker The Levaillant’s woodpecker or Levaillant’s green woodpecker ("Picus vaillantii") is a large African member of the woodpecker family Picidae. Levaillant's woodpecker is sometimes considered a subspecies of the European green woodpecker. It is monotypic, meaning it has no subspecies. This species was named in honour of the French explorer, collector and ornithologist, François Le Vaillant. Levaillant’s woodpecker is found in the three Maghreb countries Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in northwest Africa. It breeds in mountain forests up to the treeline at around 2000m. Levaillant’s woodpecker is 30–33 cm in length with a 45–51 cm wingspan. It is very
European green woodpecker gives a noisy "kyü-kyü-kyück" while flying. The song is a loud series of 10-18 'klü' sounds which gets slightly faster towards the end and falls slightly in pitch. The female makes a thinner "pü-pü-pü-pü-pü-pü-pü". The flight is undulating, with 3–4 wingbeats followed by a short glide when the wings are held by the body. It can be distinguished from the similar, but smaller, grey-headed woodpecker by its yellowish, not grey, underparts, and the black lores and facial 'mask'. In Europe, its green upperparts and yellow rump can lead to confusion with the grey-headed woodpecker or possibly the female golden oriole,