About the Great Spotted Woodpecker
The great spotted woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found across the Palearctic including parts of North Africa. Across most of its range it is resident, but in the north some will migrate if the conifer cone crop fails. Some individuals have a tendency to wander, leading to the recolonisation of Ireland in the first decade of the 21st century and to vagrancy to North America. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate nest holes, and also drum for contact and territorial advertisement; like other woodpeckers,…
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
An adult great spotted woodpecker is 20–24 cm (7.9–9.4 in) long, weighs 70–98 g (2.5–3.5 oz) and has a 34–39 cm (13–15 in) wingspan. The upperparts are glossy blue-black, with white on the sides of the face and neck. Black lines run from the shoulder to the nape, the base of the bill and about halfway across the breast. There is a large white shoulder patch and the flight feathers are barred with black and white, as is the tail. The underparts are white other than a scarlet lower belly and undertail. The bill is slate-black, the legs greenish-grey and the eye is deep red. Voice: The call of the great spotted woodpecker is a sharp kik, which may be repeated as a wooden rattling krrarraarr if the bird is disturbed. The courtship call, gwig, is mostly given in the display flight. Drumming on dead trees and branches, and sometimes suitable man-made structures, serves to maintain contact between paired adults and to advertise ownership of territory.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the Great Spotted Woodpecker sounds like
Where the Great Spotted Woodpecker lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in United States, India.
When to see the Great Spotted Woodpecker
Peak activity in January · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Syrian WoodpeckerDendrocopos syriacusThe woodpecker is 23 cm (9.1 in) long, and is very similar to the great spotted woodpecker, Dendrocopos major.
White-backed WoodpeckerDendrocopos leucotosIt is the largest of the spotted woodpeckers in the western Palearctic, 24–26 cm long with wing-span 38–40 cm.
Fulvous-breasted WoodpeckerDendrocopos maceiA medium-sized, pied woodpecker.
Side by side: Great Spotted Woodpecker vs Syrian Woodpecker
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