Bird Guide

Crimson-naped Woodpecker vs Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Crimson-naped Woodpecker (Dryobates cathpharius)

Crimson-naped Woodpecker

Dryobates cathpharius

Small31 gForest

The mantle, back and wings are black, with some white spotting and light barring on the wings and one larger white patch. The upper side of the tail is black with white barring on the outer feathers, and the underside is barred in black and white. The chin and throat are white, the central breast is red and the rest of the breast and belly are white or buff streaked with black, with a varying amount of red or pink near the vent. The forehead is white and the crown black, and the male has a red patch on the nape.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: James Eaton · CC0
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor)

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Dryobates minor

Small20 gForest

This is the smallest European woodpecker, with adults being 14 to 16.5 cm (5.5 to 6.5 in) long with a wing span of 24 to 29 cm (9.4 to 11.4 in) and weighing 17 to 25 g (0.60 to 0.88 oz). A sample of 50 lesser spotted woodpeckers in Great Britain averaged 19.8 g (0.70 oz) in body mass. From its small size and its habit of spending most of its time in the tops of tall trees in woods and parks, this little woodpecker is often overlooked, but if sighted on a trunk it may at once be identified by the broad barring on the wings and narrower bars across the lower back.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Drumming · Arrondissement of Avranches (near Bacilly), Manche, Normandie, France · CC0
Photo: Petro Miroshnyk · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Crimson-naped Woodpecker and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.