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wryneck
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Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla) Red-throated wryneck (Jynx ruficollis) Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla) Red-breasted wryneck (Jynx ruficollis)
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Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla)
Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla) Both species of wrynecks are named for their habit of twisting their necks in a snakelike manner when alarmed.

wryneck

bird
Also known as: Jynginae
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History
Red-throated wryneck (Jynx ruficollis)
Red-throated wryneck (Jynx ruficollis)This African bird is also known as the rufous-necked wryneck or red-breasted wryneck.

wryneck, either of two species of birds that constitute the subfamily Jynginae of the woodpecker family (Picidae) but may be separated as the family Jyngidae. Wrynecks are gray-brown birds of open woods and brushlands, named for their habit of twisting their necks snakily when alarmed.

Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla)
Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla)Wrynecks, such as this Eurasian wryneck feeding its young, belong to a subfamily of the woodpecker family (Picidae).

They flick up ants from the ground or insects from trees with their long tongues, and they nest in old woodpecker holes. The Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla), 16 cm (6.25 inches) long, breeds from England to Japan and winters in the tropics. The red-breasted wryneck (J. ruficollis) is African.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.