Appearance:

Upper back strongly barred, lower back all white (barred in south-east Europe subspecies). Underparts streaked. Whole crown red in male. Vent pinkish red, not deep red as in Great Spotted, and less marked. Most likely to be confused with Middle Spotted Woodpecker, but is clearly bigger, has longer bill and black moustache stripe connects to base of bill. Easily recognized in flight due to strong wing-bars and white lower back.

Sound:

Drumming noticeably longer and more powerful than Great Spotted, with accelerated ending (similar to Three-toed Woodpecker but faster). Contact call similar to Great Spotted, but slightly deeper and softer; "kjuk".

Drumming, contact call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

Appearance:

Differs from Barn Swallow in all plumages by pale throat and black under tail coverts, which are visible at greater distance than the red rump. Rufous cheeks and collar. Underparts finely streaked, giving the bird a slightly "dirty" look from a distance, with less contrast to the upperparts than in Barn Swallow. Immature birds with short streamers and buff cheeks and rump. Build more compact than Barn Swallow, with shorter bill, rounded wings and slightly shorter streamers. Flight slower and with more frequent gliding.

Sound:

Less vocal than Barn Swallow. Song slower, and less energetic. Each phrase starts with a few staccato notes, leading to a short, twittering sequence of a few seconds length, with some drawn notes. Timbre is metallic and "broken", and quite diagnostic.

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Jordi Calvet, Licence,Link.