Appearance:

Very small, almost sparrow-sized, woodpecker. Most likely to be confused with Great Spotted Woodpecker, but vent never red (always in Great Spotted). Back heavily barred, and underparts streaked. No large patches of white on upperparts. Male with red crown, female purely black and white. Bill small and slender. More likely to be seen foraging in branches than most other woodpeckers. Fluttering flight.

Sound:

Frequently drums in quite long series. Much longer than Great Spotted, and without ritardando. Most common call a series of merlin-like "ke-ke-ke-ke-ke-ke" given at fairly stable pitch, and less hoarse than Merlin. Differs from Wryneck in lacking marked rise and fall in pitch, and being less plaintive.

Drumming, 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-photo:Stefan Berndtsson, Licence,Link, CC-photo:Maggi_94, Licence,Link,

CC-photo:phenolog, Licence,Link,

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