Bird Guide

Ladder-backed Woodpecker vs Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Ladder-backed Woodpecker (Dryobates scalaris)

Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Dryobates scalaris

Small32 gShrubland

The ladder-backed woodpecker is a small woodpecker about 16.5 to 19 cm (6½ to 7½ inches) in length. It is primarily colored black and white, with a barred pattern on its back and wings resembling the rungs of a ladder. Its rump is speckled with black, as are its cream-colored underparts on the breast and flanks. Southern populations have duskier buff breasts and distinctly smaller bills. Adult males have a red crown patch that is smaller in immatures and lacking in adult females.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Recorded by steve · Call · Frontera Audubon Society (near Weslaco), Hidalgo County, Texas, United States · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ethan Wright-Magoon · 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

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