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Great Spotted Woodpecker
(Dendrocopos major)
German name(s): "Buntspecht"
Size: 22-23 cm; wing span: 34-39 cm
Weight: 60-90 g
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Great Spotted Woodpeckers have an almost all black and white
plumage, which
is dimorphic,
i.e. males
and females
are slightly different.
Male
Great Spotted Woodpeckers have an almost all-black back, from
forehead to tail, except the nape of the neck, where they
have a prominent crimson spot.
The frons, sides of the head (apart from a black fringe around
the ear coverts, from the black base of the bill to the neck),
the chin and much of the chest and belly are off-white to creamy.
Only the vent and undertail coverts are red (race "numidus" also
has a red chest patch). Apart from a broad white wing bar and
prominent white spots on the flight feathers that give the
species its name, the wings are black. The tail is also black,
with several large white spots on the outer edges.
Females are
almost identical with
males; however, they lack the crimson spot at the nape of the neck,
which is black instead.
The irises of both sexes are brown. The straight, pointy bill is
dark-grey. Legs and feet are grey. Like all other treecreepers and related species
they have long toes, with two pointing forward and two backward.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Great
Spotted Woodpecker at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to the
ebird.org
website.
The global distribution of the Great Spotted Woodpecker is available
HERE
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There are several races of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, with
a wide-ranging distribution through mid-latitude Eurasia (for
details see, e.g.
Wikipedia ).
Their total range encompasses almost all of Europe, all of
mid-latitude Asia, to the Sakhalin peninsula and most of
Japan in the East and large parts of south-eastern Asia,
including all of eastern China, except the far South.
There are also populations in parts of near-coastal
north-western Africa and on some of the Cape Verdian
islands.
In Europe Great Spotted Woodpeckers of nominate race
"major"
populate almost the entire continent (including recently again
Ireland), except northern Scandinavia and the highest regions
of the South-Norwegian mountain range, Greece and most of the
Mediterranean islands. Their range extends around most of the
Black Sea coastline into the Caucasus mountain range.
Great Spotted Woodpeckers are at home in a variety of woodlands
and forests, often - especially in winter - with conifers. During
the winter they can also often be found in parks and gardens.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
Race "major"
Great Spotted Woodpeckers, race "major", were
spotted by D. Wilczynska near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland,
in August 2016, and again in May 2017, in Biebrza NP, Poland.
All sighting and photographic information presented on
this page has been kindly contributed by D. Wilczynska.
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Photos |
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Race "major"
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ADULT |
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MALE |
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Frontal view of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]
Lateral view of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza NP, Poland, May 2017]
Lateral view of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]
Lateral view of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker foraging for
wood-boring grubs; note the characteristic crimson spot on the
nape of the neck (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]
Near-dorsal view of a male Great Spotted Woodpecker
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza NP, Poland, May 2017]
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FEMALE |
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Frontal view of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]
Lateral view of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]
Lateral view of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker visiting
a bird feeder (photo courtesy of M. Thomas)
[Eltville, Hessen, Germany, January 2013]
Dorsal view of a female Great Spotted Woodpecker; note the
characteristic all-black nape of the neck visible in this
shot (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]
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Call(s)/Song |
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For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The
interpretation of their meaning is our own; are welcome.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.