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The wrynecks are a small but distinctive group of small Old World woodpeckers.

Like the true woodpeckers, wrynecks have large heads, long tongues which they use to extract their insect prey and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backwards. However, they lack the stiff tail feathers that the true woodpeckers use when climbing trees, so they are more likely than their relatives to perch on a branch rather than an upright trunk.

Their bills are shorter and less dagger like than in the true woodpeckers, but 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.

The two species have cryptic plumage, with intricate patterning of greys and browns. The voice is a nasal woodpecker-like call.

These birds get their English name from their ability to 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.

Two species:

Eurasian Wryneck, Jynx torquilla Linnaeus, 1758

This species breeds in temperate regions of EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se and AsiaThe continent of Asia is defined by subtracting Europe and Africa from the great land mass of Africa-Eurasia. The boundaries are vague, especially between Asia and Europe: Asia and Africa meet somewhere near the Suez Canal. The boundary between Asia and E. It is migratoryLong-distance land bird migration Many species of land birds migrate very long distances, the most common pattern being for birds to breed in the temperate or arctic northern hemisphere and winter in warmer regions, often in the tropics or the southern he, wintering in tropical AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest continent in both area and population, after Asia. 30,244,050 km2 (11,677,240 mi2) including the islands, it covers 20. 3% of the total land area on Earth, and with over 800 million human inhabitants it accounts for ar and southern AsiaThe continent of Asia is defined by subtracting Europe and Africa from the great land mass of Africa-Eurasia. The boundaries are vague, especially between Asia and Europe: Asia and Africa meet somewhere near the Suez Canal. The boundary between Asia and E. It is a bird of open woodland and orchards. On migration it is frequently seen in sandy areas, where it forages for ants.

Rufous-necked Wryneck, or Red-breasted Wryneck, Jynx ruficollis WaglerJohann Georg Wagler ( 1800 1832) was a German herpetologist. Wagler was assistant to Johann Baptist von Spix, and became Director of the Zoological Museum at the University of Munich after Spix's death in 1826. He worked on the extensive collections broug, 1830Events February 3 The previously autonomous state of Greece gains full independence from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence. Negotiations for the borders between the two states continue until 1832, under the supervisio

This is the non-migratory counterpart of the Eurasian species, and is resident in sub-Saharan Africa. This is a savannah bird, which requires trees with old woodpecker or barbetThis article is about the Barbet family of birds. For the Barbet dog breed see Barbet (dog Barbet : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Piciformes : Capitonidae Genera Psilopogon Megalaima Calorhamphus Gymnobucco Stactolaema Pogoniulus Buccanodon Tricholaema Lyb holes for nesting.