Adult female Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are completely pied. That is, they are black and white. Thus they mainly differ from males in lacking red on the crown. However, a few females may show a tinge of pink at the rear of the crown and some may have faint red feather tips, but these are rarely visible in the field, only on birds in the hand. They have a buff forehead, dirty white fore-crown and black hind-crown. Some may have a brownish crown edged with black. Typical females have a white fore-crown edged with black that extends over the eye. Females have longer wings and longer tails than males but this is minimal and not noticeable in the field. This photo shows an adult female in Hungary (László Nehézy). Note the completely lack of any red.
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker: adult female ID
Adult female Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are completely pied. That is, they are black and white. Thus they mainly differ from males in lacking red on the crown. However, a few females may show a tinge of pink at the rear of the crown and some may have faint red feather tips, but these are rarely visible in the field, only on birds in the hand. They have a buff forehead, dirty white fore-crown and black hind-crown. Some may have a brownish crown edged with black. Typical females have a white fore-crown edged with black that extends over the eye. Females have longer wings and longer tails than males but this is minimal and not noticeable in the field. This photo shows an adult female in Hungary (László Nehézy). Note the completely lack of any red.
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