wryneck

Small bird, genus Jynx, of the woodpecker family Picidae, of which only two species are known. The European common wryneck J. torquilla is brown and grey with black markings; its length about 15 cm/6 in. It very rarely behaves like a true woodpecker, but usually stays in thick cover feeding on insects which it picks up from leaves or twigs. Its name is derived from its habit of twisting its neck as it feeds. The other species is J. ruficollis of Africa.