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Great Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos major
Range & Recent Observations
Last Spotted Near You
About the Great Spotted Woodpecker
The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found across the Palearctic including parts of North Africa. Across most of its range it is resident, but in the north some will migrate if the conifer cone crop fails. Some individuals have a tendency to wander, leading to the recolonisation of Ireland in the first decade of the 21st century and to vagrancy to North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Classification
- Scientific name
- Dendrocopos major
- Family
- Woodpeckers
- Order
- Piciformes
Similar species
Other members of the woodpeckers family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.
- Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus
- American Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides dorsalis
- Arizona Woodpecker Leuconotopicus arizonae
- Black-backed Woodpecker Picoides arcticus
- Black-cheeked Woodpecker Melanerpes pucherani
- Chestnut-colored Woodpecker Celeus castaneus
- Downy Woodpecker Dryobates pubescens
- Eurasian Wryneck Jynx torquilla
- Gila Woodpecker Melanerpes uropygialis
- Gilded Flicker Colaptes chrysoides
- Golden-cheeked Woodpecker Melanerpes chrysogenys
- Golden-fronted Woodpecker Melanerpes aurifrons
Know when the Great Spotted Woodpecker turns up near you
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Optics
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Cameras
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