Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Dryobates minor
Very small (sparrow-sized) and easily overlooked woodpecker, often encountered foraging quietly on smaller branches and twigs high in the canopy. Note bold white barring on back and wings, whitish underparts with no red blush under tail; male has red crown patch. Varies subtly across range, especially in the coloration and patterning of the breast and belly; more northern birds tend to have paler, less patterned underparts. Inhabits deciduous woodlands, parkland, and larger gardens. Gives high-pitched squeaky calls and long, even drums.
Identification
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.<p>The male has a crimson crown, a brown forehead, a black superciliary stripe, and another from the base of the bill to the neck. The nape and upper back are black, but the lower back is barred with black and white. On the wings are broader and more conspicuous bars, and the outer tail feathers are also barred. The under parts are white with streaks on the flanks. The bill and legs are slate-grey.<p>In the female the crown is white, but the young birds of both sexes have more or less crimson on the head. There are no marked seasonal changes.
Taxonomy
The lesser spotted woodpecker was listed by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Picus minor. The species was moved to the genus Dendrocopos by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch in 1816. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2015 based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences found that the species placed in the genus Dendrocopos did not form a monophyletic group. In the revised generic classification, the lesser spotted woodpecker was placed in the resurrected genus Dryobates, that had originally been introduced by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826. The genus name Dryobates is from the Ancient Greek druos meaning woodland and batēs meaning walker. The specific minor is Latin for "smaller".<p>There are 13 recognised subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Dryobates minor
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Dryobates
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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