Suomi
Svenska
Polski
Čeština
Slovenčina
Norsk
Dansk
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocoptes medius
Identify the Middle Spotted Woodpecker by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The Middle Spotted Woodpecker is a mainly European woodpecker of mature deciduous forest, especially old oak stands. It resembles the Great Spotted Woodpecker but has a red crown, no black moustachial stripe, a paler, rounder head and a shorter, finer bill. More a canopy gleaner than a bark-hacker, it is largely sedentary and ranges across much of Europe into western Asia.
Did you know?
- Unlike most woodpeckers, it defends its territory by song rather than drumming.
- It is closely tied to old oaks, whose rough bark hides plenty of insects.
Voice
About the species
Identification
A smallish woodpecker (about 20–22 cm) with a finer bill than Great Spotted Woodpecker. The whole crown is red and there is no black cheek stripe; the flanks are streaked dark and the rear belly is pinkish. The sexes look very alike, the male's red crown being only slightly brighter and larger.
Family
Picidae
Size
Medium (thrush)
Colours
white, black, red, brown
About the habitat
Mature deciduous woodland, especially with old oak, hornbeam and elm, and a mosaic landscape of clearings, pastures and dense stands.
Diet
Mainly insects and their larvae picked from branches and twigs high in the canopy; sometimes also tree sap.
Behaviour
Feeds restlessly high in trees, gleaning prey rather than chiselling into bark. Largely sedentary. It excavates a nest hole in decaying trunks or thick branches; the clutch is usually four to seven eggs, incubated for about 11–14 days. It advertises its territory with a nasal song and drums only rarely.
Sources
Photo: Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Middle-spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos medius), Parc du Rouge-Cloître, Brussels (49179578882) (cropped).jpg
Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC918628, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/918628
Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC707128, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/707128
Sound: Jesús Lavedán Rodríguez, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dendrocoptes_medius_-_Middle_Spotted_Woodpecker_XC612700.mp3
Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC918621, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/918621
Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_spotted_woodpecker
, Parc du Rouge-Cloître, Brussels (49179578882) (cropped).jpg){kind=link}