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:

Very similar to Parrot Crossbill, but has thinner neck, smaller head, steeper forehead and slender bill. Upper mandible is less curved towards the tip than in Parrot Crossbill, and the lower is straight, with no bulge. The tip of the lower mandible protrudes from behind the upper (tips of mandibles visibly crossing). The chest is less deep, and birds are not so front heavy. Large individuals may be difficult to identify because of overlapping characters with Parrot Crossbill. Plumage similar to Parrot, with dark wings and tail. Males with rufous red head and body, females green. Juveniles greyish green with streaking. Posture more erect than Parrot Crossbill, especially when foraging on ground.

Sound:

Contact call similar to Parroy Crossbill's "tupp", but is on average higher and less powerful, with a "cut-off" ending. In sum: Parrot Crossbill; hard attack, soft ending, Crossbill: softer attack, cut-off ending. Beware regional variations and overlap in pitch of calls with Parrot. The song consist of improvised, resonant twittering, and series of contact calls with no apparent phrases. It is generally faster, with less marked pauses than in Parrot Crossbill, and the phrasing seems more random.

Contact call and 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

CC-sound:Piotr Szczypinski, Licence,Link.