Lesser spotted woodpecker (1 Viewer)

[Galtz]

I have lots of trees out my backdoor and love trying to identify them. We have had a family of greater spotted Woodpeckers and yesterday the first picture was feeding and I knew it was different.
Pic 1 lesser spotted
Pic 2 greater spotted
Pic 1 not overly clear. Could someone identify please. I am in Scotland

 

[markm]

It's a young Greater spotted . They have red "caps" . The big white wing patch is also characteristic.
Lesser spotted is also much smaller , about sparrow sized.

 

[Galtz]

It was the colour of its breast that was totally different and it didn’t have red at its tail feathers. We’ve had the male, female and juvenile at various times but this one was more beige and not red feathers at tail.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum.

It looks like a juvenile Great (not greater) Spotted Woodpecker.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Galtz,

welcome to Birdforum!

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker varies more in colouration of the undertail-coverts than the adults, ranging from adult-like bright red to more orange or even orangey-yellowish (rare) or buffish, very rarely even so pale buffish/cream that its hard to see under normal field condition.

Please compare, a juvenile GSW with quite subdued undertail-coverts, but not at the extreme end of range regarding extent and buffiness (Prenzlau, NE-Germany, June 2016):

https://flic.kr/p/HpTKbq

Welcome to Birdfoum again!

 

[Chris G6 UXU]

Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

 

[delia todd]

Hi Galtz and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. Yes, that is a Great Spotted Woodpecker, not long out of the nest, it takes a few months for the red cap to disappear. Great Spotted Woodpeckers get their name from the large white wing patches. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has lots of small spots over the wings. Have a look at our Opus article for the Lesser and you will see the difference with your bird: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - BirdForum Opus . There the male has a red cap.

There are a few Lessers in Scotland, mostly towards the west side of the country. The closest to me, I think, are seen at Killiecrankie on occasion.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

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