page_title: Woodpecker
section_title: Wrynecks
hierarchical_section_title: Woodpecker / Wrynecks
caption_attribution_description: English: Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla) Deutsch: Wendehals (Jynx torquilla) Italiano: Torcicollo europeo
context_page_description: The woodpeckers and its near relatives the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers are the family Picidae. They are near-passerine birds. Members of the Picidae are found worldwide, except for the parts of old Gondwana which they did not get to: Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and Antarctica. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats.
  The Picidae are just one of the eight living families in the order Piciformes. DNA sequence analyses have shown they are a clade.
  There are about 240 species and about 35 genera in this family. Many species are threatened or endangered due to loss of habitat or habitat fragmentation.
context_section_description: The wrynecks (genus Jynx) are two species of small Old World woodpeckers.
  They are very similar to true woodpeckers, but lack the stiff tail feathers that  woodpeckers use when climbing trees. They are more likely to perch on a branch rather than an upright trunk. Their bills are shorter and less dagger-like than in the true woodpeckers. Their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or almost bare soil. They re-use woodpecker holes for nesting, rather than making their own holes. The eggs are white, as with many hole nesters.
  These birds can turn their heads almost 180 degrees. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like  head twisting and hissing as a threat display. This odd behaviour led to their use in witchcraft, hence to put a "jinx" on someone.
caption: Eurasian wryneck
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