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Classification

• Order: Piciformes
• Family: Picidés
• Genus: Dryobates
• Species: minor

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Binomial name

• Linnaeus, 1758

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biometrics

• Size: 16 cm
• Wingspan: 25 to 27 cm
• Weight: 18 to 22 g

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Distribution

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bird song

To find out more about the bird song

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IUCN CONSERVATION STATUS

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IDENTIFICATION

The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a small picid, the smallest of the European woodpeckers. It is about 15 cm long and weighs 20-25 g, with small individual and subspecific variations.
It is a Dryobates, closer in appearance to the North American Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers than to our European Spotted and Middle Spotted Woodpeckers, which are Dendrocopos. In addition to its size, the absence of large white patches on its upperparts and of red under its tail distinguishes it from the latter.
The species displays a slight but clear sexual dimorphism. Adult males have a red cap edged in black. The red is absent in the female or reduced to tiny lines. Juveniles are darker on the underside, with more blotches that are less distinct than those of the adult and sometimes a barred appearance on the flanks. The cheeks are darker. The young male has a distinct red cap, while the young female has little or none.
The species has 13 subspecies which differ only in physical or plumage details.

HABITAT

In Europe, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is found in lowland or hillside deciduous woodlands. It prefers damp, soft-wooded woodlands on the banks of running or stagnant water, riparian forests and wooded marshes, as well as old artificial woodlands such as poplar plantations and parks. These habitats are occupied all year round.
In the MENA region and Asia, it climbs to altitudes of up to 2,000 m in the Caucasus, depending on the elevation of favourable woodlands

Threat – protection

Because of its ecology, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is less subject to forest management pressure than other woodpeckers. Foresters are not interested in the white woods it favours, apart from planted poplars. It is still common, at least in Europe, but at fairly low densities, always lower than those of the spotted woodpecker, for example.
It can be protected, along with other species such as creepers and flycatchers, by preserving areas that evolve at their own pace in management plans.