The Great Spotted Woodpecker is a member of the Woodpecker family, like the Green and the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. It can be found throughout England in woods and sometimes in parks and in urban gardens which have mature trees. It spends most of its time clinging onto trunks of trees and when it feels it is in danger, it literally freezes on the tree trunk so not to be noticed.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker has a black back, white and black sides and oval-shaped white markings on its black wings. The male can be recognised because it has crimson-red feathers on the back of its head. Both the male and the female have crimson-red patches under their tail and an off-white throat and belly. The Great Spotted Woodpecker has a slate-black beak which is strong and powerful enough to hammer through wood when this woodpecker wants to make a cavity for its nest.

Greater Spotted Woodpeckers wedge large nuts in the crevices of trees and then hack at them with their beaks to break the nuts open. They also use their beaks to break dead wood to find insects and once the insects have been spotted they use their very long tongues to catch the insects. Sometimes Great Spotted Woodpeckers visit bird tables in urban gardens and they can even be seen hanging from bird feeders in winter.