Appearance:

Only woodpecker in the region with large, white shoulder patches and missing moustache stripe. Head leaves a pale and gentle impression, since no moustache reaches the bill, and the red crown is not framed in black. Flanks finely streaked. Bill short and slender, which together with the pale head gives it the impression of being markedly smaller than Great Spotted Woodpecker. Outer tail feathers distinclty barred in white. Sexes are similar but the red crown is brighter and reaches further down the neck of males. Crown feathers frequently raised in small crest. Often seen crouching across branches.

Sound:

Song is a series of short, mewing and nasal "peeaa peeaa peeaa ", where each syllable quickly rises in pitch, but the overall phrase is fairly constant. Contact and alarm call consists of a series of short "kitt" sounds, where the first syllable is clearer and distinctly in a higher pitch than the rest of the phrase. Seldom drums.

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

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:

Most likely to be confused with Little Crake (P. parva). Most important field characters is the very short primary projection and lack of red base of bill. Some caution should be taken as missing or unorderly tertials can be confusing with regards to the projection, and immature Little Crake may sometimes also lack red base of bill. Flanks and belly more extensively barred than P. parva. Upperparts richer brown with white spots. Sexes alike, but females often with paler throat. Brown cheeks occurs in both sexes. Legs dirty olive colour and bill greenish. Immature even more easily confused with P. parva, but apart from the missing projection, note warmer brown upperparts and more heavily barred underparts, even on breast. Crown less evenly coloured than P. parva, with blackish speckles.

Sound:

Rich repertiore. Male song easily overlooked due to similarity to The edible frog Pelophylax esculentus., and to being audible only a few hundred meters. The sound, a rolling "trrrrrrrr", differs from frogs in being drier and more stable in pitch. Sometimes the pitch rises slightly in the beginning of the call, but then remains stable also at the end. The call is uttered in 1-2 seconds intervals and each call is 2-3 seconds long. Some overtone modulation is common (stable pitch but change of vocal "ooeeii"). Unmated female sings with a more hurried "wirrr". Alarm call a series of nasal, hoarse "weeat" or a sharp "kriik".

Male 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

CC

CC-sound:Edmunds Racinskis, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Peter Jacobs Photos, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:gilgit2, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Marc Herremans, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Marc Herremans, Licence,Link.