Bird Guide

Grey-headed Woodpecker vs Streak-throated Woodpecker

Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picus canus)

Grey-headed Woodpecker

Picus canus

Medium137 gForest

The grey-headed woodpecker is 25–26 cm (9.8–10.2 in) in length, has a wingspan of 38–40 cm (15–16 in) and weighs around 125 g (4.4 oz). The male of the nominate subspecies has a grey head with a red forecrown. There is a black line across the lores and a narrow black moustache stripe. The back, scapulars and wing coverts are green. The breast and underbody are pale grey. The folded primaries are barred brown-black on grey-white. The female lacks the red forecrown but has fine black streaks on the crown. Voice: Calls made by the European green woodpecker and grey-headed woodpecker resemble each other. The far-carrying territorial song of the grey-headed woodpecker is more melodic and cleaner than the explosive "laughter" of the green woodpecker. The call series consists of ten to fifteen utterances of declining pitch and gradual slowing. The verse may appear melancholic and "dying".

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Grey-headed Woodpecker
Recorded by Camille Vacher · Song · Arrondissement de Montbard (near Villiers-le-Duc), Côte-d'Or, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France · CC BY 4.0
Photo: Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium · CC BY 2.0
Streak-throated Woodpecker (Picus xanthopygaeus)

Streak-throated Woodpecker

Picus xanthopygaeus

Medium100 gWoodland

A medium-sized, green woodpecker with streaked throat and scaly whitish underparts. Green above with yellowish rump, white supercilia and white and black moustache. Crown red in male, blackish in female. Tail dark and plain. Smallish, dark bill. The streak-breasted woodpecker has pale eyes, denser underpart streaking, and a thinner pale moustache stripe. The laced woodpecker has less underpart streaking and a warm yellowish hue all over the neck. The scaly-bellied woodpecker has streaked belly feathers, but unstreaked breast and throat plumage.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Streak-throated Woodpecker
Recorded by Ramkeekovai · Call · Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Kingshuk Mondal · 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: Grey-headed Woodpecker and Streak-throated Woodpecker.