Great Spotted Woodpecker: Nest & eggs

The Great Spotted Woodpecker excavates its own nest and needs no ready-made cavities or nest boxes.

• Nest hole: its own hole, chiselled out in the trunk of a living or dying tree, often a broadleaf tree with softening wood.
• New each year: the pair generally chisels out a new nest hole each season, and the old holes come in useful for other birds.
• Interior: the nest itself is bare with only a little wood chippings in the bottom, where the female lays 4–7 eggs.

Incubation takes 11–13 days and the young stay 20–24 days in the hole before they fly out.

More about the Great Spotted Woodpecker

• Nest boxes
• In winter