Birdwatching - 3193🐦

🦉 The lesser spotted woodpecker (Picoides minor , synonym of Dryobates minor)

• Dryobates (Greek) : druos - forest, woodland, batēs - walker, stroller
• minor (Latin) - smaller

This is one of the smallest woodpeckers in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Its plumage resembles that of the Great Spotted Woodpecker and the White-backed Woodpecker, differing only in details. Its undertail coverts are whitish rather than red, and males and young birds have a red cap-like habit on their heads. The female, however, wears a white cap and has no red at all in her plumage.

This little fellow nests in various forest types, including mixed and deciduous forests with many dead and damaged trees. The problem is that it cannot peck healthy trees with thick, brittle bark. It pecks at the thin bark on tree branches and shrubs, as well as the brittle, rotten bark of dead trees.