Middle Spotted Woodpecker: races ID

The nominate race, medius, occurs in Europe though birds on the Greek island of Lesvos may belong to the anatoliae race which breeds on the nearby Turkish mainland. Anatoliae is slightly smaller and more heavily marked on the flanks and breast than medius. But generally differences in size and colour are clinal. As a rule populations in northern and central Europe are larger and paler than in the Balkans and Mediterranean zone.