Middle spotted woodpecker

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Middle spotted woodpecker

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Dendrocoptes
Species:
D. medius
Binomial name
Dendrocoptes medius
Range of D. medius
Synonyms
  • Picus medius Linnaeus, 1758
  • Leiopicus medius (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Dendrocopos medius (Linnaeus, 1758)
Zagros
region (Kurdistan)
Race sanctijohannis from the Zagros region
Dendrocopos medius

The middle spotted woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) is a European woodpecker belonging to the genus Dendrocoptes.

Taxonomy

The middle spotted woodpecker was

monophyletic genera, the middle spotted woodpecker was one of three species that were placed in the resurrected genus Dendrocoptes.[5][6] This genus had been erected by the German ornithologists Jean Cabanis and Ferdinand Heine in 1863 with the middle spotted woodpecker as the type species.[7]

Four subspecies are recognised:[6]

  • D. m. medius (Linnaeus, 1758) – Europe to west Russia
  • D. m. caucasicus Bianchi, 1905 – north Turkey through the Caucasus
  • D. m. anatoliae (Hartert, 1912) – west and south Turkey
  • D. m. sanctijohannis (Blanford, 1873) – Zagros Mountains (southwest Iran)

Description

The middle spotted woodpecker is 20–22 cm long and has plumage similar to the great spotted woodpecker. As with that species the upperparts are predominantly black with white oval wing patches and white barring on the wings, and the underparts are white. The main differences are a red crown, lack of a black moustachial stripe, a pink vent, and dark streaks on the flanks. Although only slightly smaller than the great spotted woodpecker, it appears smaller due to its short, slender bill and more rounded, pale head. It can also be confused with the Syrian woodpecker (particularly juveniles), being distinguished from this by the smaller bill, and the red crown not having narrow black sides.

Distribution and habitat

The middle spotted woodpecker occurs only in

Balkan Peninsula, Lithuania, Latvia, Turkey, the Caucasus, and Iran.[8] The species is common in Estonia, but virtually nonexistent in Finland.[9] This species used to breed in Sweden but became extirpated in the '80s. However, middle spotted woodpeckers have been seen again in Sweden in their breeding habitat in recent years, suggesting a recolonization of the country. Due to its sedentary nature it has never been recorded in the British Isles. It prefers deciduous forest regions, especially areas with old oak, hornbeam and elm
, and a patchwork of clearings, pasture and dense woodland.

Behaviour and ecology

Behaviourally it likes to feed high in the trees, moving constantly and making a good view difficult. In the breeding season it excavates a nest hole about 5 cm wide in a decaying tree trunk or thick branch. It lays four to seven

eggs
and incubates for 11–14 days.

The middle spotted woodpecker lives predominantly on a diet of

tree sap
. It is rarely heard drumming, and never for territorial purposes, which it asserts by song; a slow, nasal gvayk gvayk gvayk gvayk gvayk. Calls include a fast kik kekekekek.

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22681114A87306174.en
    .
  2. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 114.
  3. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  4. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1948). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 6. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 188.
  5. PMID 25818851
    .
  6. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Woodpeckers"
    . IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  7. ^ Cabanis, Jean; Heine, Ferdinand (1863). Museum Heineanum : Verzeichniss der ornithologischen Sammlung des Oberamtmann Ferdinand Heine, auf Gut St. Burchard vor Halberstadt (in German and Latin). Vol. 4 Part 2. Halberstadt: R. Frantz. p. 41.
  8. ^ "دارکوب سر سرخ". 24 January 2012.
  9. ^ "Tammitikka, viitatiainen ja kattohaikara ovat Virossa tuttuja, Suomessa harvinaisuuksia – linturetkeily Suomesta Viroon kasvattaa taas suosiotaan" (in Finnish). Yle. 4 September 2022. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  • Gorman, Gerard (2004): Woodpeckers of Europe: A Study of the European Picidae. Bruce Coleman, UK.
    ISBN 1-872842-05-4
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dendrocopos medius.
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