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:

Male: Charcoal to black plumage, with rufous red tail, pale belly and pale wing-panel (south-eastern subspecies with rufous belly and no wing-panel). Female: Grey brown overall, except rufous tail. Lacks the orange tinge to breast and belly of female Common Redstart. Juveniles resembles the adult female, and lacks the buff speckles of congeners. May jump around on the ground like CR, but are more prone to run. Also shows a more erect posture.

Sound:

Song consists of three parts and is distinct if heard well. It opens with some clear notes that may form a trill, which are then followed by a pause. Next part is rather unique, and sounds as if shaking a handful of gravel. The phrase then usually closes with a couple of trills. The "gravel-part" does not carry as far as the rest of the song. Alarm call is a chat-like alternation between short, high-pitched "wit" sounds, and series of hard and dry "teck".

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