Photos: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Here are three fine photos of a displaying / courting pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers.

By Will Forest
















Taken in Yorkshire, UK.

Quiz woodpecker 15

Another quiz woodpecker without the actual bird! Which woodpecker made these holes? What is the purpose of this work ? That is, just what is bird looking for ?

Middle Spotted Woodpecker: drumming

Middle Spotted Woodpecker does not regularly drum. Females probably do not drum at all. Any drumming that is done by this species is rather mild, limited to early spring and usually made in response to competition from another male. Both adults do however tap loudly at the nest-hole in spring. This tapping is clearly a communicative signal and not part of hole excavation and is not drumming. Middle Spotted Woodpeckers seems to rely more on the meow-ing “song” when announcing territory rather than drumming. But it is important to state that this species does drum. Some observers have stated this it does not. Personally, I have seen this woodpecker drumming on a handful of occasions, the most recent being on April 3rd, 2008 in the Bukk Hills, Hungary.

Woodpecker artwork: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

In an earlier post on this blog I highlighted the art of wildlife artist Szabolcs Kokay from Budapest, Hungary. In my opinion Szabolcs is one of the very best artists when it comes to capturing woodpeckers, whether it be in oils, watercolours or just pencil. This wonderful painting of a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers Dendrocopos minor in riverine habitat in Hungary, is yet another fine example of the artist's ability at capturing woodpeckers that are not only accurate plumage-wise but also shown in the correct habitat and behaviour context.

Woodpeckers and houses: clever solution?

I recieved this method of detering woodpeckers (in this case a Green Woodpecker in the Buda Hills) from hammering and boring into wooden buildings. Hang balloons, left over from kids' parties etc, over the areas that are being visited by the birds. Apparently this ingenuous, yet simple, method immediately solved the problem for one family, as the woodpeckers stopped visiting and the occupants have slept soundly ever since. However, it remains to be seen for how long those balloons have to be left dangling there!

Woodpeckers and houses

I sometimes am asked about "what to do" when woodpeckers start to "attack" timber houses, holiday homes, log cabins and the like. Besides the actual holes made and damage done the noise when the birds hammer (perhaps outside a bedroom) can also be a problem. Now this behaviour is actually quite common but it is desirable that the occupants and owners of such buildings try to tackle the problem in a woodpecker-friendly way. Shooting or harming these birds is not the answer and indeed in most countries would be illegal. A simple solution is to hang ribbons, lines of tape or aluminium strips over the areas being hacked into, so that the bird cannot get at those spots and to generally just deter the bird. Though it deals mainly with North Amercan woodpeckers the following website is worth browsing. The background and methods suggested to deter woodpeckers are mostly valid for European species: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/wp_about/

Quiz woodpecker 14

This Quiz Woodpecker is a little different from the previous 13 ... i.e. there is no bird! The question is which European woodpecker species made these holes ?