Great Spotted Woodpecker: The Brain-Hunting Bird (8 Photos)

We’re taught from a young age that woodpeckers are the guardians of the forest—tireless protectors spending endless time and effort devouring tree-destroying pests, granting aging trees a few more decades of life. And that’s mostly true: a single Great Spotted Woodpecker can hold up to 500 insects in its stomach at any given time.





Yet these birds harbor a much darker side. Woodpeckers aren’t just forest saviors—they can be destroyers, too. More surprisingly, they are surprisingly efficient hunters of far larger prey.



I’ll save this forest, but at what cost...

Here's a little-known fact: woodpeckers are omnivores. Alongside insects, their diet includes berries, fruits, and tree seeds. In the dead of winter, when bugs are nowhere to be found, plant matter becomes their main staple. In just one month, a Great Spotted Woodpecker can destroy up to 1,000 pinecones. That’s an astonishing appetite for a bird that is roughly the size of a thrush—despite "Great" being in its name. How many future trees vanish in the process is anyone's guess.





I'm just trying to keep the balance.

Great Spotted Woodpeckers excel at eating seeds thanks to one clever adaptation: the anvil. A woodpecker’s anvil is a convenient fork in a branch, a crack between rocks, or any tight wedge where it can jam a cone. Once locked in place, the bird can chip away at the seeds without worrying about its meal dropping to the ground.



Spot a pinecone where it doesn't belong? You can thank a woodpecker for that.

Across a foraging territory spanning anywhere from 5 to 50 acres—depending on food supply—a single bird may maintain as many as 50 anvils. Shredding cones occupies most of their daylight hours during winter. That said, in mixed and deciduous forests, they happily break routine to feast on hazelnuts and other plant seeds.



The ground beneath a woodpecker’s anvil is always scattered with seeds, cone scales, and debris—a mess that stands out clearly against the winter snow.

Come spring, when seed reserves run low and insect populations haven't yet boomed, woodpeckers get creative. That’s when they turn into ruthless predators. Their sharp, narrow beaks aren't just great for tearing through bark—they are equally lethal at puncturing the skulls of small creatures, from mice and songbirds to lizards and harmless young snakes. To get their required calories, Great Spotted Woodpeckers will stop at nothing, including raiding other birds' nests.



Pretty sure people started hanging bird feeders only after woodpeckers threatened to pick their brains out.

Their mating season starts early. By late February, males begin drumming aggressively on dead branches, broadcasting their search for love across hundreds of yards. By mid-March, courtship is in full swing. Males flutter around females, puff up their feathers, and put on grand displays. After all that effort, cracking open a few bird eggs, scavenging carrion, or feeding on the brains of a young mouse seems like a well-earned snack.



Little titmouse, count yourself lucky that piece of suet is bigger than you are.

Their calorie needs spike even higher in May, once pairs form and nesting begins. The workload multiplies: they must feed themselves, raise chicks, and take turns incubating eggs. On top of that, they spend time terrorizing noisy neighbors. Woodpeckers despise having other birds nest nearby and will use every tactic to drive the unfortunate newcomers away—often facing little resistance.



Yep, that's right: this woodpecker actually had the nerve to go after an owl.

So while the woodpecker may be celebrated as a forest guardian, it’s quite the ruthless rogue. Given the chance, it won't hesitate to crack open a few skulls.