About this species
The Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) is a small, cryptically plumaged bird related to woodpeckers but highly unusual in both appearance and behaviour. Its brown, grey and buff bark-like pattern provides excellent camouflage, and when threatened it can twist its head through nearly 180 degrees — hence 'wryneck'.
Unlike most woodpeckers, it does not excavate its own nesting cavities but uses existing holes in trees. It feeds almost exclusively on ants and their larvae, probing soil and bark with its long, sticky tongue.
The species breeds across a wide belt from western Europe to Japan. Central Asian and Siberian populations migrate through the CAF to winter in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent.