Gallery: Syrian Woodpecker male

Male Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus. Photo taken in Gühlane Park, Istanbul, Turkey, Feb 2012, by Bill Benish.

Gallery: Syrian Woodpecker on utility-pole

Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus is often found in and around settlements. Photo taken in Abaujker, Hungary, 2011, by Gerard Gorman.

Quiz woodpecker 47

Which European woodpecker did this ? OK, fairly easy, but tell what this is exactly ? And why do you think it is that species and not another ?  

Gallery: Syrian Woodpecker female

A very interesting shot of a female Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus on the ground out in the open. Taken in Bulgaria by Mladen Vasilev. Check out more of his photos here: Mladen Vasilev Wildlife.

Recommended Reading: Woodpeckers

The current standard book on world woodpeckers is WOODPECKERS: A guide to the Woodpeckers, Piculets and Wrynecks of the World by Hans Winkler, David A Christie and David Nurney. Published in 1995 by Pica Press, UK. Though numerous taxonomic and vernacular name changes have occurred since this volume was published, it remains the standard work. Anyone interested in picids should have this fine book.  

Syrian Woodpecker: Individual Plumage Variation

This female Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus was photographed by Josip Ledinscak in Nasice, Croatia, in December 2011. This species is easily confused with the co-occurring relative Great Spotted Woodpecker D. major and the two will even interbreed. Note that the undertail colour on this bird is rather red, not pink as it should be for a classic Syrian. But I do not believe that this indicates a hybrid. I believe that it is merely individual variation in plumage. However, there is always the chance that birds like this are descendants of ancestors that hybridized generations ago and that mixed features re-appear in subsequent generations, but this cannot be proved in the field. In fact, many Syrians and Great Spotteds show such atypical features in areas where they do not co-occur and thus cannot have hybridized.

Urban Woodpeckers

Some woodpeckers in Europe can be found in urban habitats. Parks, churchyards and gardens, for example, can provide suitable habitat for some species. Green Woodpecker will visit lawns to feed on ants, Great Spotted Woodpecker readily visits garden bird-feeders and Syrian Woodpecker not only forages but often nests in settlements. However, some other species, such as White-backed Woodpecker, rarely occur away from forests proper. This photo shows a Syrian Woodpecker atop a roadside utility pole in a village in north-east Hungary.