Dendrocopos leucotos
SUBFAMILY
Picinae
TAXONOMY
Picus leucotos Bechstein, 1802.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Owston's woodpecker; French: Pic à dos blanc; German: Weissrückenspecht; Spanish: Carpintero de Lomo Blanco.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
9.8–11.0 in (25–28 cm), 3.2–5.6 oz (92–158 g); A pied woodpecker with white cheeks, white forehead and lower back, white breast shading to pale pink and deeper pink vent area; male with prominent red cap; female with black cap. Birds in southeast Europe have vermiculated white back.
DISTRIBUTION
Found in a broad band across forested areas of northern Eurasia from Fennoscandia to Kamchatka and Japan; many isolated populations in montane and island areas
HABITAT
Wet mixed forest, often near rivers or lakes
BEHAVIOR
Has a large home range, moving great distances to areas with many dead and dying trees in order to find preferred foods. Drumming has been likened to a bouncing ping-pong ball— a strong beginning accelerating to a weaker end "bouncing to a halt."
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds primarily on insects, especially wood–boring beetles; spends considerable time excavating beetle larvae from near the base of willows and alders.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Courtship often begins in February; nests often high in rotted stub or utility pole; clutch of 3–5 eggs incubated by both parents for 14–16 days; both adults tend nestlings which fledge at 27–28 days.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened globally, but considered regionally threatened by forest clearing and disturbance.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.
