- Picoides tridactylus
Identification
21.5-24cm.
- Black head, wings and rump
- White throat and belly
- White, black barred flanks
- White back with black bars
- Black tail with white, black barred, outer feathers
- Male has yellow cap
Distribution
Breeds throughout most of Fenno-Scandia (except the far north, the higher mountains and south-west Norway), parts of eastern and southern Poland and the Baltic states and across Russia between about 660 and 530N. Isolated populations exist in Central Europe mainly in the Alps and Carpathians with a few scattered pockets of distribution in the Balkans. Occurs across Asia from the Urals to China and Kamchatka and a rare breeder in Hokkaido, Japan. Isolated populations in the Tien Shan Mts and in western China. Mainly resident but may be nomadic, dispersive or eruptive in far north of range. Vagrants recorded in Denmark and Germany.
Taxonomy
About five races are usually recognised with nominate found from Northern Europe to Sakhalin, replaced in the Urals by the paler-headed crissoleucus. The race alpinus from the Central European mountains and the Balkans is darker than nominate with dark barring on the back and bolder flank markings. Kamchatka race albidior is smaller than nominate with whiter plumage and funebris is darker than other races with less white on back.
North American races, dorsalis from the Rocky Mountains, fasciatus from Alaska to Oregon and bacatus in the east are smaller and darker than Palearctic races and are considered a separate species, American Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis) by many but not all authorities.
Habitat
Main habitat is coniferous forest with abundant dead wood, often around swampy areas, sometimes in birch and willow. In the south of range found in conifers on mountainsides.
Behaviour
They nest in cavities.
The diet includes insects, larvae, fruit and tree sap.
Vocalisation
<flashmp3>Picoides tridactylus (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
References
- Woodpeckers of Europe: A Study of the European Picidae. Gerard Gorman. ISBN 1-872842-05-4
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 8 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Eurasian_Three-toed_Woodpecker
External Links
The following link will find images of Picoides+tridactylus in the gallery, but please notice that at the time of editing, only one is of the Eurasian species. The rest of the images found were of American Three-toed Woodpecker, as these were labeled with the name of the pre-split species, which this form inherited.
