| Wryneck | |
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| A Eurasian wryneck in Norway | |
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| Subfamily: | Jynginae |
| Genus: | Jynx Linnaeus, 1758 |
The wrynecks (genus Jynx) are a small group of woodpeckers.
These birds get their name for the ability to turn their heads almost 180°, which they do along with hissing when they are threatened. For this reason, they are occasionally known as "snake-birds."
Like other woodpeckers, they have large heads, long tongues, which they use to catch their prey, mostly insects, and have zygodactyl feet, but lack the stiff tail feathers that other woodpeckers have, meaning that they perch on branches rather than tree trunks. Both male and female wrynecks have a similar appearance.
Their beaks are shorter than other woodpeckers, but their main prey is ants and other insects, like other woodpeckers.