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White-backed Woodpecker

White-backed Woodpecker

Dendrocopos leucotos

Identify the White-backed Woodpecker by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The White-backed Woodpecker is a widespread Eurasian species and the largest pied woodpecker in the western Palearctic. It has barred black-and-white wings and a white lower back; males have a red crown, females a black one. Although it ranges from Europe to Japan, it is generally scarce and closely tied to mature deciduous forests rich in dead wood, and it is used as an indicator species of such forests.

Did you know?

  • Its scientific name, Dendrocopos leucotos, means “white-backed”, from the Greek leukos (white) and -notos (-backed).
  • The island subspecies of Amami Ōshima is sometimes treated as a separate species, the Amami Woodpecker.

Voice

Sound

About the species

Identification

A stocky pied woodpecker with a large white patch on the lower back and rump, strongly barred black-and-white wings and a pinkish undertail that fades onto the belly, with fine dark streaks on the flanks. The male has a bright red crown, the female a black one. The extensive white back and streaked flanks distinguish it from Great Spotted Woodpecker, which has large white shoulder patches on a black back.

Family

Picidae

Size

Medium (thrush)

Colours

black, white, red, brown

About the habitat

Extensive mature deciduous and mixed forest with plenty of standing and fallen dead wood, often aspen, birch or alder stands and river valleys.

Diet

Mainly the larvae of wood-boring beetles, such as longhorn beetles, and other insects; also nuts, seeds and berries, especially outside the breeding season.

Behaviour

Forages methodically on trunks, large branches and fallen logs, prying off bark and chiselling into decayed wood for larvae. The male's drumming is very loud, long and even. Calls include a soft “kiuk” and a longer “kweek”. It excavates its nest hole in dead or rotten trees, and both adults feed the young.

Sources

Photo: Alastair Rae, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dendrocopos leucotos 2.jpg

Sound: Nikita Panfilov, XC701457, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/701457

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-backed_woodpecker

See also