Ken Lilly (British, 1929 - 1996) "Grey Squirrel and Great Spotted Woodpecker" Signed lower right. Original Watercolor painting on Paper. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. The Great Spotted Woodpecker is distributed over an immense range covering almost the entire Palearctic from Britain in the west to Japan in the east and reaching North Africa and the Canary Islands in the south-west. The Great Spotted has a varied diet changing with the seasons. During spring and summer it feeds largely on insects, especially ants and the larvae of wood-boring beetles. Holes may be chiselled up to four inches deep. But in autumn and winter the birds switch to a variety of fruits, seeds and nuts. Although feeding their own young largely on insects and spiders, Great Spotted Woodpeckers are notorious for taking the eggs and young of other hole-nesting birds (especially tits and house martins). Gray squirrels are medium sized arboreal, or tree squirrels. Their back is grizzled dark to pale gray and may be tinted with reddish coloration on their hips, feet and head. The tail is white to pale gray and as is their stomach. In the north, both their ears and soles of the feet grow heavy fur during winter. Generally, there is no difference between males and females with respect to size or coloration. Squirrels feed heavily on nuts, flowers, and buds of oak species, and walnut, hickory and pecan. Other food items include the fruits, seeds, buds or flowers of certain trees. Fungi are also consumed when readily available in summer, as are cultivated crops in winter. Animal food items include bones, bird eggs, nestlings, and frogs. Image Size: 13.5 x 13.5 in. Overall Size: 16 x 16 in. Unframed. (B08147)