The green woodpecker is the largest British woodpecker and almost entirely dependent on ants, making it exceptionally vulnerable to agricultural intensification and the loss of short-turf grasslands.
Green woodpeckers face serious welfare pressures from the loss of traditional grasslands rich in ant colonies. Agricultural intensification, including use of pesticides that reduce ant populations, has degraded much of their core foraging habitat. Cold winters cause acute welfare crises as birds cannot access food through frozen ground and may starve. Predation by cats in suburban areas where woodpeckers forage on lawns is a growing concern.