On the Wildside: Woodpeckers visiting as a family

The male with his red patch on the back of the neck was the most regular during the wintertime and then joined by the female in early spring. Now both the birds come to the feeders near the house, though rarely visiting together.

When standing outside in the garden, their first arrival is heralded by a high-pitched ‘chip-chip-chip’ noise from the top of a nearby tree. Both the female and the male have the red patch on the lower belly known as the undertail coverts, but she lacks the red neck patch.

In recent weeks though, the adult birds have been joined by one or more youngsters, and these have become quite tame but can be easily put off by anyone moving near a window in the house. So, they are busy feeding but are jumpy if they spot a movement or, especially, a camera. Maybe they are just camera shy.

It is the young birds that can cause confusion and I do get messages from readers claiming to have a ‘lesser spotted woodpecker’ in their gardens. This is because they have a smallish woodpecker with a red cap on top of the head, and this fits the broad description of the ‘lesser’. However, this is a rare and declining species, and is basically about the size of a sparrow, perhaps a little larger. We do have them breeding at local sites like Graves Park, but they are rare and secretive.

A spotted woodpecker in the garden and with a red cap is almost certainly a baby ‘great spotted woodpecker’, and very nice to see too. These are all birds which benefit from long-term management to maintain old trees and also dead standing timber as vital habitat for woodpecker feeding and breeding.

Professor Ian D. Rotherham, researcher, writer & broadcaster on wildlife & environmental issues, [email protected]; follow Ian’s blog (https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/) and Twitter @IanThewildside