Eurasian wrynecki

Characteristics

A bird of the woodpecker family named for the ants it eats.

It has a gray-brown body with blackish-brown and brown spots, giving it an appearance similar to the ground or dead trees. Its belly is white, which looks whitish when viewed from the front.

Black spots extend from the eye line to the shoulders.

It gives a very different impression when the feathers on its head are erect than when it has its feathers laid flat and its neck stretched out.

Ecology

They can be found in forests, riverbeds, farmland, etc. They feed on ants on the ground and on rotting wood.

They are often hard to see, but sometimes appear on open side branches at set times.

Habitat

Tama River midstream

I photographed it perched on a fallen tree near the water's edge. I visited the same spot to photograph it, and found that it would emerge at around 3:45 p.m.

It would only stay in a prominent spot for about 45 seconds at a time, so I couldn't capture it for days even when I caught sight of it.

I was finally able to photograph it on a slightly windy, sunny day.

It climbed up from under the fallen tree, perched at the highest point, and looked out over the riverbed, then descended to the ground after a while.

I'm not sure why it climbs up fallen trees, but I think it descends to the water's edge just before it comes up.