Great Spotted Woodpecker

How to identify

Field marks

1. Glossy blue-black upperparts; white face and side of the neck
2. One large white patch on the scapulars
3. Black-and-white barring on the flight feathers and tail feathers
4. White underparts; lower belly and area under the tail bright red

Male, female and young

The male has a red patch on the back of the head, absent in the female; juveniles have a red crown and a pink rather than red lower belly.

Voice

A sharp “kik”; when startled, this may run into a wooden-sounding quacking “krrarraarr”.

Similar species

White-winged Woodpecker

White-winged Woodpecker has much larger white patches on the wings.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: March–May and September–October · Most records: United Kingdom, Spain, China

Great Spotted Woodpecker has been recorded at 1,896 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 64 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Amwell HMWT NRUnited Kingdom4,087 records
2. Beddington FarmlandsUnited Kingdom2,415 records
3. South Downs NP – Pulborough Brooks RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom1,946 records

Countries and regions with the most records

United KingdomSpainChinaGermanyCzechiaPortugalSouth KoreaPoland

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found across the Palearctic including parts of North Africa.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions