Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)

Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas).

Sent by Sarah, a postcrosser from Trier, Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : Papaver rhoeas (common names include corn poppy, corn rose, field poppy, Flanders poppy, red poppy, red weed, coquelicot, and, due to its odour, which is said to cause them, as headache and headwark) is a species of flowering plant in the poppy family, Papaveraceae. This poppy, a native of Europe, is notable as an agricultural weed (hence the "corn" and "field") and as a symbol of fallen soldiers.


P. rhoeas sometimes is so abundant in agricultural fields that it may be mistaken for a crop. The only species of Papaveraceae grown as a field crop on a large scale is Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy.

The plant is a variable annual, forming a long-lived soil seed bank that can germinate when the soil is disturbed. In the northern hemisphere it generally flowers in late spring, but if the weather is warm enough other flowers frequently appear at the beginning of autumn. The flower is large and showy, with four petals that are vivid red, most commonly with a black spot at their base. Like many other species of Papaver, it exudes a white latex when the tissues are broken.


It is known to have been associated with agriculture in the Old World since early times. It has most of the characteristics of a successful weed of agriculture. These include an annual lifecycle that fits into that of most cereals, a tolerance of simple weed control methods, the ability to flower and seed itself before the crop is harvested.

The leaves and latex have an acrid taste and are mildly poisonous to grazing animals.

Its origin is not known for certain. As with many such plants, the area of origin is often ascribed by Americans to Europe, and by northern Europeans to southern Europe. The European Garden Flora suggests that it is ‘Eurasia and North Africa’; in other words, the lands where agriculture has been practiced since the earliest times. It has had an old symbolism and association with agricultural fertility.

Germany - Brockenbahn

Brockenbahn or Brocken Railway.

Sent by Helga, a postcrosser from Apen, Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : The Brocken Railway (German: Brockenbahn) is one of three tourist metre gauge railways which together with the Harz Railway and Selke Valley Railway form the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways railway network in the Harz mountain range of Germany.

It runs from the station of Drei Annen Hohne at 542 m (1,778 ft), where it joins the Harz Railway, via Schierke and the Bode River valley to the summit of the Brocken, the highest mountain of the Harz at 1,141 m (3,743 ft) and part of the Harz National Park.

The Brocken Railway leaves Drei Annen Hohne station (542 m above NN), like the Harz Railway, in a southwesterly direction. Before exiting the station, however, it crosses the road to Schierke/Elend and then enters the Harz National Park. It then heads west to Schierke station (688 m), where until 1963, there was a siding to Knaupsholz granite quarry at about the half-way point. The line then runs for some distance along the valley of the Cold Bode, which lies south and far below the line. Next the 971 m high mountain, the Wurmberg, appears on the left, and the train crosses the Brocken Road for the first time.

After a tight left hand bend before the Eckerloch Bridge and another right-hander, the line reaches Goetheweg station (956 m), which is now only used as a locomotive depot. Then the line runs directly to the Brocken, encircling it in a spiral 1 ½ times, during which it crosses the Brocken Road again, and then finally ends after 18.9 km at Brocken station (1,125 m).

As early as 1869 there was a design for the construction of a railway to the Brocken, but it was turned down. A resubmission in 1895 succeeded, however, and, on 30 May 1896, the construction permit was issued once Prince Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode had allocated the requisite land. The first section of the Brocken Railway, from Drei Annen Hohne to Schierke, was opened on 20 June 1898 and construction work for the remaining section up to the Brocken was begun on 4 October 1898. Initially services to the Brocken only ran between 30 April to 15 October; during the winter trains terminated at Schierke station. At the end of the Second World War significant damage occurred to the track, mainly through bombs and grenades, in the course of fighting in the Harz, which had been declared a fortress. The section to the Brocken was only reopened, therefore, in 1949.


The operator of the Brocken Railway until 5 August 1948 was the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company (NWE), after which it belonged from the Association of Publicly-Owned Companies (VVB), part of Saxony-Anhalt's transport services, and, from 11 April 1949 to the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany. Only after the German winter sports championships in 1950, which took place in Schierke, did winter trains run up to the Brocken summit. A railway station at Eckerloch was also built for the championships which was closed again after they had ended. The location of the former sidings at Eckerloch station can still be easily seen.

Goods trains continued to work the Brocken Railway right up to 1987, although since the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 the Brocken and its station had been part of the out-of-bounds area and thus not accessible to the public. Up to that time the trains transported coal, oil and building materials up the mountain for the East German Border Troops and Soviet soldiers who were stationed there.

Passengers services on the Brocken Railway continued to run from Drei Annen Hohne to Schierke; usually only two pairs of passenger train pairs ran each day; however they could only be used with a special pass, because Schierke lay in the border zone with West Germany.

After German reunification the continued operation of the Brocken Railway was initially called into question, however united efforts by railway enthusiasts and politicians under the overall control of the then state Minister for the Economy, Horst Rehberger, helped to give the Brocken Railway a second chance. The German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) were also involived, because the Brocken Railway was needed to haul away the obsolete, military facilities on the Brocken. On 15 September 1991, after being renovated, the Brocken Railway was ceremoniously opened to the public with two steam-hauled trains. The trains were headed by locomotive no. 99 5903, a Mallet locomotive, which had been procured by the NWE in 1897/98, and locomotive no. 99 6001, a prototype developed in 1939 by the firm of Krupp.
Since the privatisation of the narrow gauge lines in the Harz in 1993 the Brocken Railway has been operated by the Harz Narrow Gauges Railways (HSB).

The steam trains on the Brocken Railway have become popular with thousands of tourists every year, offering convenient access to the top of the Brocken.

Up to six pairs of trains run daily to the top of the Brocken during the winter. Of those, four start and end in Wernigerode. During the summer, services are increased to eleven pairs of trains daily. The fastest train takes 49 minutes to reach the summit. The Brocken Railway is the only HSB line whose regular services are exclusively hauled by steam locomotives (specials are also hauled by diesel railbuses and diesel engines of Class 199.8, the latter for clearing snow).

Czech Republic - Františkovy Lázně

Františkovy Lázně

Sent by Martin, a postcrosser from Czech Republic.

This is from Wikipedia : Františkovy Lázně (Czech pronunciation: [ˈfrancɪʃkovɪ ˈlaːzɲɛ]; German: Franzensbad) is a town in Cheb District of Karlovy Vary Region in the western Bohemia (Czech Republic), near the town of Cheb with about 5,200 inhabitants.


Františkovy Lázně is world renowned as a spa. The salutary effects of the springs were known from the 15th century on. First, the water was used locally for salutary purposes, later sold all over Germany. In 1700, it reportedly sold more water than all other German spas combined. In the year 1793, the town was officially founded under the name Kaiser Franzensdorf (Emperor Francis II's village) and later renamed to Franzensbad, under which name it became a famous spa.

Until their expulsion in 1945 the majority of the population of the city was German (see Sudetenland).

It was the first peat pulp bath in the world and operated 24 mineral springs, 12 of which are still in operation.

The local natural mineral water has a relatively high content of dissolved carbon dioxide. The effects of the carbonic baths are shown in the better performance of the cardiovascular system, in the mild decrease of blood pressure in the pulse, in the lower occurrence of chronic inflammatory processes in the body, and also in terms of rheumatics, and in the improved blood circulation in tissues and the vegetative stabilisation.

The local mud treatments represent a traditional curative method which has thermal, chemical and mechanical effects. The mud treatment consists of a thick mushy combination of mud and mineral water which is heated up to a temperature which is significantly higher than body temperature. The treatment has a positive effect on mobility of muscles and the pain in treated tissues.

Thanks to its wide range of services and large accommodation capacities, the local Spa corporation is the biggest spa corporation in the Czech Republic.

Poland - Łódź

Multiviews of Łódź, Poland.

Sent by Aleksandra, a postcrosser from Łódź, Poland.

This is from Wikipedia :  Łódź ([wut​͡ɕ]; Yiddish: לאדזש, Lodzh) is the third-largest city in Poland. Located in the central part of the country, it had a population of 742,387 in December 2009. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is approximately 135 kilometres (84 mi) south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canting: depicting a boat, it alludes to the city's name which translates literally as "boat".

Germany - Freiberger Hüttenältester

Freiberger Hüttenältester.

Sent by Georg, a postcrosser from Freiberg, Germany.

Portugal - Lisbon - Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém (3)

Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém.

Sent by Elsa, a postcrosser from Guarda, Portugal.

Canada - British Columbia

BRITISH COLUMBIA
Canada
Area : 952,263 square km.
Population : 3.5 million
Capital City : Victoria
Provincial Flower : Dogwood
Provincial Bird : Steller's Jay
Scenery : Awesome!!

Sent by Katie, a postcrosser from Vancouver, Canada.

Russia - Vologda Oblast

Panorama of the Vologda Kremlin in Vologda, Vologda Oblast.

Sent by Evhenya from Vologda Oblast in Russia.

This is from Wikipedia : Vologda Oblast (Russian: Вологодская область, tr. Vologodskaya oblast; IPA: [vəlɐˈɡotskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ]) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is Vologda. Population: 1,202,444 (2010 Census). The largest city is Cherepovets, the home of the Severstal metallurgical plant, the largest industrial enterprise of the oblast.


Vologda Oblast is rich in historic monuments, such as the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, Ferapontov Monastery (a World Heritage Site) with the frescoes of Dionisius, medieval towns of Velikiy Ustyug and Belozersk, and baroque churches of Totma and Ustyuzhna.

Large reserves of wood and fresh water are the main natural resources.

Slovenia - Slovenian Caves

Multiviews of Slovenian Caves (include Škocjan Caves, a UNESCO WHS).

Sent by Veronika, a postcrosser from Slovenia.
 

Russia - Moscow - Mayakovskaya (Moscow Metro)

Vestibule of the metro station Mayakovskaya. 1938.

Sent by Misha, a postcrosser from Moscow, Russia.

This is from Wikipedia : Mayakovskaya (Russian: Маяковская), is a Moscow Metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line. Considered to be one of the most beautiful in the system, it is a fine example of pre-World War II Stalinist Architecture and one of the most famous Metro stations in the world. The name as well as the design is a reference to Futurism and its prominent Russian exponent Vladimir Mayakovsky.

The station was built as part of the second stage of the Moscow Metro expansion, opening on 11 September 1938. If the first stage was more focused on the building of the system itself, both architecturally and when it comes to the engineering, the stations appear modest in comparison to those that the second stage brought to the system. For the first time in the world, instead of having the traditional three-neath pylon station layout, the engineers were able to overlap the vault space and support it with two sets of colonnades on each side. This gave birth to a new column type design and Mayakovskaya was the first station to show this.

Located 33 meters beneath the surface, the station became famous during World War II when an air raid shelter was located in the station. On the anniversary of the October Revolution, on 7 November 1941 Joseph Stalin addressed a mass assembly of party leaders and ordinary Muscovites in the central hall of the station.

Lithuania - National Song and Dance Festival

The National Song and Dance Festival, the world's cultural heritage.

Sent by Dalia, a postcrosser from Klaipeda, Lithuania.

This is from UNESCO : Both a repository and a showcase for the region’s tradition of performing folk art, this cultural expression culminates in large-scale festivals every fifth year in Estonia and Latvia and every fourth year in Lithuania.These grand events, held over several days, assemble as many as 40,000 singers and dancers. For the most part, the participants belong to amateur choirs and dance groups.Their repertories reflect the wide range of musical traditions in the Baltic States, from the most ancient folk songs to contemporary compositions. Directed by professional choir conductors, bandleaders and dance instructors, many singers and dancers practise throughout the year in community centres and local cultural institutions.

Choirs and musical ensembles first became institutionalized in Estonia during the eighteenth century. Subsequently, choir singing spread throughout rural and urban areas, spurred by the growing popularity of choral music, singing societies and song festivals in Western Europe. With the participation of the most active choirs from various regions of these States, the Baltic Song and Dance Celebrations were initially organized in Estonia in 1869 and in Latvia in 1873. Lithuania hosted its first celebration in 1924. Once the Baltic States gained independence from Russia after the First World War, the celebrations acquired widespread popularity as a means of asserting Baltic cultural identity. In the three countries, special venues and festival sites were constructed to host the events. After the incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union at the end of the Second World War, the celebrations adapted to the prevailing communist ideology.

Since regaining independence in 1991, the Baltic States have undertaken various measures to ensure the protection of this tradition, yet the major economic and social changes taking place in the region raise serious concerns for the future. Today’s principal threats stem from the rural exodus and the resulting break-up of local amateur groups.

Russia - Altai Republic - Altaian Woman in National Costume

An Altaian woman in the national costume. Altai, Russia.

Sent by Dinna, a postcrosser from Moscow, Russia.

This is from Wikipedia :  Altai Republic (Russian: Респу́блика Алта́й, Respublika Altay; Altay: Алтай Республика, Altay Respublika) is a federal subject of Russia (a republic). Its capital is the town of Gorno-Altaysk. The area of the republic is 92,600 square kilometers (35,800 sq mi). Population: 206,168 (2010 Census).

The national autonomy for the Altai people was created on June 1, 1922 as Oyrot Autonomous Oblast (Ойро́тская автоно́мная о́бласть), part of Altai Krai. The original name for this region was Bazla. On January 7, 1948 it was renamed Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast (Го́рно-Алта́йская автоно́мная о́бласть). In 1991 it was reorganized into the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR). In 1992 it was renamed as the Altai Republic.

Bulgaria - The Museum Cities of Bulgaria

The Museum Cities of Bulgaria.

Sent by Teodora, a postcrosser from Bulgaria.

Australia - Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus)

Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus).

Sent by Gayle, a postcrosser from Brisbane, Australia.

This is from Wikipedia : The Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus), is a broad-tailed parrot of the genus Platycercus native to northeastern Australia. It is a moderate-size parrot with a pale yellow head, predominantly white cheeks, scalloped black and gold back and pale blue underparts. Two subspecies are recognised, although some authorities consider it to be conspecific with the Eastern Rosella of southeastern Australia.

Found in open woodland, it feeds on seeds and fruit. As with other rosellas, the Pale-headed Rosella nests in hollows of large trees. It readily adapts to aviculture and is sold as a cagebird.

The Pale-headed Rosella was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1790. There are two subspecies, the better known palliceps (eastern Queensland), known as the Blue-cheeked Rosella, and adscitus (Cape York Peninsula). Its closest relative is the Eastern Rosella, which replaces it in southeastern Australia. Hybrids of the two taxa have been recorded where their ranges meet in northeastern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland. Some consider the two conspecific; this would add another three subspecies.

Other common names occasionally seen include Mealy Rosella, Moreton Bay Rosella, Blue Rosella, and Blue-cheeked Rosella for the northern subspecies. The term White-cheeked Rosella has been used for a species or superspecies combining the Pale-headed and Eastern forms.

Portugal - Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém (2)

Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon.

Sent by Tatiana, a postcrosser from Portugal.

Denmark - Fanø Dragefestival

Fanø Dragefestival or Fanø Annual Kite Festival.

Sent by Rita, a postcrosser from Denmark.

"The annual international kite festival, which in 2012 is being held on 14-17 July, attracts up to 5,000 participants from all over the world and crowds of spectators to Fanø. The 5,000 kite-flyers have spent the cold winter designing and creating new and exciting kite models in a myriad of shapes and colours. The sky is the limit! The kites are launched into the air on Rindby Strand during the four-day-long festival."(Source)

Bicycles (15)

Sent by Margarita, a postcrosser from Suffolk, England.

USA - Navajo Nation

NATIVE AMERICANS
Of the Native American tribes living within the United States, the Navajo is the largest. The Navajo Nation also possesses the largest reservation, encompassing some 27,000 square miles of land rich in oil, gas, coal, and uranium. However, true wealth of the reservation and people lies not beneath the ground, but in daily life expresses through the art of weaving, traditional dress, and dance.

Sent by Betty, a postcrosser from Italy.

This is from Wikipedia : The Navajo Nation (Navajo: Naabeehó Bináhásdzo) is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering 27,425 square miles (71,000 km2), occupying portions of northeastern Arizona, southeastern Utah, and northwestern New Mexico. It is the largest land area assigned primarily to a Native American jurisdiction within the United States.

 In English, the initial name for the area was "Navajo Indian Reservation," governed since 1923 by the "Navajo Tribal Council." On April 15, 1969, the official name on the seal used by the government was changed to "Navajo Nation," stating that from that day on "all correspondence, stationary [sic], letterheads [...] of the Navajo Tribe use the designation 'Navajo Nation' to locate the tribe." In 1994, a proposal to change the official designation from "Navajo" to "Diné" was rejected by the council. They said the name Diné represented the time of suffering before the Long Walk, and that Navajo is the appropriate designation for the future. In Navajo, the geographic entity with its legally defined borders is known as "Naabeehó Bináhásdzo." This contrasts with "Diné Bikéyah" and "Naabeehó Bikéyah" for the general idea of "Navajoland." More importantly, neither of these designations should be confused with "Dinétah," the term used for the traditional homeland of the Navajo people, situated in the area between the mountains Dookʼoʼoosłííd (San Francisco Peaks), Dibé Ntsaa (Hesperus Mountain), Sisnaajiní (Blanca Peak), and Tsoodził (Mount Taylor).

Spain - Works of Antoni Gaudí (3)

Park Güell in Barcelona.

Sent by Lopez, a postcrosser from Barcelona.

China - Couplet

In Chinese poetry, a couplet is a pair of lines of poetry which adhere to certain rules. Outside of poems, they are usually seen on the sides of doors leading to people's homes. A special, widely-seen type of couplet is the spring couplet, used as a New Year's decoration that expresses happy and hopeful thoughts for the coming year.

Sent by Heather, a postcrosser from Shanghai, China.

This is from Wikipedia : A couplet is a pair of lines of meter in poetry. It usually consists of two lines that rhyme and have the same meter.

While traditionally couplets rhyme, not all do. A poem may use white space to mark out couplets if they do not rhyme. Couplets with a meter of iambic pentameter are called heroic couplets. The Poetic epigram is also in the couplet form. Couplets can also appear in more complex rhyme schemes. For example, Shakespearean sonnets end with a couplet.

Rhyming couplets are one of the simplest rhyme schemes in poetry. Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales are written in rhyming couplets. John Dryden in the 16-17th century and Alexander Pope in the 18th century were both well known for their writing in heroic couplets.

Because the rhyme comes so quickly in rhyming couplets, it tends to call attention to itself. Good rhyming couplets tend to "explode" as both the rhyme and the idea come to a quick close in two lines.

Belarus - Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh (2)

Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh.

Sent by Tanya, a postcrosser from Belarus. This is the postcard from Belarusian Postcrossers Meeting on 18 March 2012.

Germany - Town Musicians of Bremen

Town Musicians of Bremen.

Sent by Andreas, a postcrosser from Germany.

This is from Wikipedia : The Town Musicians of Bremen (German Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten) is a folktale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. Despite the title of the fairy tale, the characters never actually arrive in Bremen. In Aarne-Thompson classification it is a folk tale of type 130: "outcast animals find a new home".

In the story a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster, all past their prime years in life and usefulness on their respective farms, were soon to be discarded or mistreated by their masters. One by one they leave their homes and set out together. They decide to go to Bremen, known for its freedom, to live without owners and become musicians there.

On the way to Bremen, they see a lighted cottage; they look inside and see four robbers enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Standing on each other's backs, they decide to perform for the men in hope of gaining food. Their 'music' has an unanticipated effect; the men run for their lives, not knowing what the strange sound is. The animals take possession of the house, eat a good meal, and settle in for the evening.

Later that night, the robbers return and send one of their members in to investigate. He sees the Cat's eyes shining in the darkness and thinks he is seeing the coals of the fire. He reaches over to light his candle. Things happen in quick succession; the Cat scratches his face with her claws, the Dog bites him on the leg, the Donkey kicks him and the Rooster crows and chases him out the door, screaming. He tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who scratched him with her long fingers (the Cat), an ogre with a knife (the Dog), a giant who had hit him with his club (the Donkey), and worst of all, the judge who screamed in his voice from the rooftop (the Rooster). The robbers abandon the cottage to the strange creatures who have taken it, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days.

China - Qingdao - The Former Site of the Governor-General Administration (German Administration)

Qingdao - The Former Site of the Governor-General Administration (German Administration)

Sent by Humeixi, a postcrosser from Qingdao City, China.

Poland - Starachowice

Views of Starachowice.

Sent by Piotr, a postcrosser from Poland.

This is from Wikipedia : Starachowice [staraxɔˈvʲit​͡sɛ] is a town in south-central Poland with 55,126 inhabitants (2008). Starachowice is situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (since 1999); it was formerly in the Kielce Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Starachowice County. It is situated upon the River Kamienna, a tributary of the Vistula River, among hills and forests.

In the location of present day Starachowice, a forge existed, which in the 16th century belonged to the Starzechowski family (most probably, the name of the town comes from this family). A settlement, which was built around the forge, belonged until 1817 to the Cistercians from Wąchock Abbey, located nearby. It was the monks who in 1789 initiated construction of a blast furnace (see also Old-Polish Industrial Region).

In 1815, the furnace was taken over by the government of Congress Poland, and in the following years, the industrial settlement of Starachowice emerged as main center of metallurgy. According to a plan devised by Stanisław Staszic, metal industry was developed along the Kamienna river, and the settlement of Starachowice was its center.

After Poland regained independence in 1918, the government in Warsaw decided to build an arms factory in Starachowice. On October 12, 1920, The Society of Starachowice Mining Company signed a contract with Main Office of Supplying the Army. Soon afterwards, works on construction of artillery ammunition factory began. Zakłady Starachowickie (Starachowice Works), which was an industrial complex including ammunition factory, artillery equipment factory and iron works, was main Poland’s producer of such materiel. It also manufactured Bofors 37 mm guns, used by the Polish Army in 1939.

The very town of Starachowice was not created until April 1, 1939, when the ancient town of Wierzbnik (founded 1624) was merged with the settlement of Starachowice Fabryczne and the village of Starachowice Górne. At first, the new town was named Starachowice-Wierzbnik, and in 1952 the name was changed into Starachowice.

During the Holocaust, the ghetto in Wierzbnik, a town located nearby, was liquidated on October 27, 1942, and many of its prisoners were sent to the death camp Treblinka.the remaining Jewish residents of Starachowice and Wierzbnik were sent to labor camps in the vicinity. Those camps were liquidated in the Summer of 1944. The remaining survivors were deported to Auschwitz where many of them met their deaths at the hands of the S.S. There was a munition plant there where Jewish slave labor was used.

Starachowice was an important center of the Home Army, where units of Jan Piwnik and Antoni Heda operated.

After World War Two Starachowice prospered as an important industrial center. Besides Starachowice Works, truck producer FSC Star was opened in 1948. A Star truck was used as the basis for the first Popemobile for Pope John Paul II's during his first visit to his home country as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church (1979). When Communist system collapsed, the situation in Starachowice worsened, and unemployment grew. The town currently has a special economy zone with lower tax rates to help the settlement of new industry.

Black Woodpecker (Drycopus martius)

Black Woodpecker (Drycopus martius).

Sent by Anna, a postcrosser from Ukraine.

This is from Wikipedia : The Black Woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is a large woodpecker, 45–50 cm (18–20 in) long with a 64–84 cm (25–33 in) wingspan. Body weight is approximately 300-400 grams (10.6-14.2 oz) on average. It is easily the largest woodpecker in its range. This species is closely related to and fills the same ecological niche in Europe as the Pileated Woodpecker of North America.

It lives in mature forest across the northern palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region. Its range is expanding in Eurasia. It does not migrate.

The plumage of this crow-sized woodpecker is entirely black apart from a red crown. In males, the entire crown is red, but in females only the top hindcrown is red with the rest of the body all black. It has a very long beak of 2.5 inches (6.3 cm).

The sexes differ even as nestlings.

The woodpecker feeds by using its bill to hammer on dead trees to dig out carpenter ants and wood-boring grubs.

Their voice is remarkable in that it has two different calls. One is a short single high-pitched note done only twice in a row. The other is a screech-like shrill while in flight.

Unlike other woodpecker species, the Black Woodpecker does not have a dipping, bounding flight.

The woodpecker digs a nest hole, usually in a live poplar or pine tree where it lays four or more eggs.