https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22680683/...
... Taxonomy in detail
Scientific name Jynx torquilla
Authority Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Common names
English Eurasian Wryneck, European Wryneck, Wryneck
French Torcol
Taxonomic sources del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK. ...
https://www.hbw.com/species/eurasian-wryneck-...
Family Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Least Concern
Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla)
... French: Torcol fourmilier German: Wendehals Spanish: Torcecuello euroasiático
Other common names: Northern Wryneck
Taxonomy: Jynx Torquilla Linnaeus, 1758, Europe = Sweden.
Closely related to J. ruficollis. Several additional races described from Asia, but geographical variation largely clinal, also somewhat random, and individual variation notable, with much overlap in characters, and all are considered better lumped with nominate race: birds breeding from Ural Mts to R Yenisey named as sarudnyi on basis of paler plumage with fewer markings below, and others farther E and in China as race chinensis on basis of more barred plumage, but both populations contain individuals closely resembling or identical to W birds; Japanese birds described as japonica, more barred and with more rufous in plumage, but some are identical to W (including European) breeders. Four subspecies recognized. ...
https://www.britannica.com/animal/wryneck#ref39154
... 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. 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. ...
https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/snake-li...
... The origin of putting a ‘jinx‘ on someone has everything to do with this bird: The Eurasian wryneck or Jynx torquilla. To ward off predators, these harmless birds bend and twist their heads around in a snake-like way. They also reportedly hiss. Long ago, this behavior was superstitiously associated with or used as a part of spells, curses, and witchcraft, hence the jinx.
National Geographic introduces this small old world woodpecker in the video above. The original footage was filmed at Gedser Bird Observatory & Ringing Station in Denmark: ...
http://www.10000birds.com/eurasian-wryneck-jy...
Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla
There are two species in the Old World woodpecker genus that sounds like birds that birders would never be able to see. They are literal jinx birds in that their genus name is “Jynx.” Jynx torquilla, the Eurasian Wryneck, and Jynx ruficollis, the Red-throated Wryneck, are both atypical woodpeckers in that they lack the stiff tail for perching on tree trunks and the strong bill that would let them get at prey in hard wood. Instead they forage on the ground, like flickers, for ants, or focus on rotted wood for ants and other insects. Neither even makes their own nesting cavities; they use the abandoned holes of other woodpeckers. ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_wryneck
The Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla) is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. This species mainly breeds in temperate regions of Europe and Asia. Most populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa and in southern Asia from Iran to the Indian Subcontinent, but some are resident in northwestern Africa. It is a bird of open countryside, woodland and orchards. ...
