There’s some confusion as to which bird is actually considered a rain bird though most bird enthusiasts consider the yaffle, or green woodpecker, the rain bird.
What is a green woodpecker or yaffle?
A green woodpecker is a green bird that has a long, tough beak that’s used for finding insects and knocking large holes into trees. The greenwood pecker, or rain bird, is usually found in England, Wales and Scotland. The rain bird’s body is larger than other woodpeckers, but like other woodpeckers, the rain bird feeds off of insects. The rain bird absolutely loves ants and can frequently be found hanging around ant hills. Once it finds one ant hill that it likes, it will return again and again.
The rain bird has a green body but it also has a red top that kind of resembles a hat. If you catch a rain bird on the fly, you might be able to spot its bottom, which is a bright yellow.
What about the yaffle part?
Why is a rain bird also called a yaffle bird? Well, yaffle is a word that’s unique to the rain bird. The word yaffle was contrived to explain the sound that the rain bird makes. The yaffle noise is almost like a cackle or a very strange laugh. They use this crazy noise to mark their territory and warn other birds that a particular area is theirs.
Finding a rain bird
A quick fix to finding a rain bird is getting on the Internet and looking up rain bird pictures. Though this will give you an idea of what the bird looks like, it’s nothing like seeing the bird in its majestic natural habitat. If you live in the states, you need to get on a plane and fly over the Atlantic to see a rain bird. When you get to Wales, England or Scotland, go to parks that are heavily wooded. The rain bird can also be found in orchards and pasture land.
Your chances of seeing a rain bird increase if you visit its habitat in the summer months. The rain bird is very territorial and will stay near its nest. However, younger rain birds will leave the forest in the winter to find food that is far from the wooded area.
Interesting fact
The rain bird will eat about 2,000 ants a day! These birds have sticky tongues that they use to lap up the insects as they’re moving around an ant hill. The rain bird will find an ant hill and dig at it with its beak until it breaks the hill up and the ants come running out. Then the rain bird licks up the ants with its sticky tongue!
