Today, the references tell us that in many English country dialects, from Yorkshire south to Kent and west to Devon, the green woodpecker was called a yaffle.
The largest of the three species of wood pecker found in Britain, Green Woodpeckers are also easily recognized by their laughing ‘yaffle’ call.
The Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis, sometimes called Yaffle) is a member of the woodpecker family Picidae.