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WoodlandCavity nestSmall · 21 g
ID tip
The brown-backed woodpecker is a small species, growing to a length of between 13 and 16 cm (5.1 and 6.3 in). The beak is long and chisel-tipped with a wide base. The male has a red hind crown and nape while the female lacks these. Otherwise the sexes are similar, the head is brown with a white supercilium and moustache and dark ear coverts. The body plumage is brown with white barring on the wings and tail and the underparts are whitish, with variable amounts of dark streaking.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Brown-backed Woodpecker
One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is November, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Brown-backed Woodpecker
The map shades 18 countries with regular records, and 4 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
About the Brown-backed Woodpecker
The brown-backed woodpecker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in a belt across the savannah region of sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in the east. It is generally uncommon, but has a very large range and the population appears to be steady, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Elliot's WoodpeckerDendropicos elliotiiElliot's woodpecker is a medium-sized species growing to a length of between 20 and 22 cm (8 and 9 in).
Melancholy WoodpeckerDendropicos lugubrisThe melancholy woodpecker is 17–18 cm (6.7–7.1 in) long.
Speckle-breasted WoodpeckerDendropicos poecilolaemusThe speckle-breasted woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae, which is native to sub-Saharan Africa.
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