Eurasian Wryneck

Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla) is a slim woodpecker relative with a short bill and intricately mottled grey-brown plumage that resembles bark rather than the bold pattern of most woodpeckers. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It feeds largely on ants in open woodland, orchards and countryside, uses existing holes instead of excavating its own nest and migrates from much of temperate Eurasia to warmer wintering regions. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. The Korean vertebrate catalogue used for this guide records the species in South Korea (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Korea occurrence records).