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Home>Bird Library >Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Garden Birds

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

The smallest and least common of the UK's resident woodpeckers, lesser spotted woodpeckers are quieter in their tell-tale tapping noises but can still be spotted high up in trees.

Identification

There is a distinct difference between males and females, the clearest one being the crimson patch on the crown. Females lack this colourful feature and are entirely black and white, with no colour at all.

Feeding

Feeding almost exclusively on insects and wood-boring larvae, they will also visit gardens and bird tables to feed on sunflower hearts and suets.

Breeding

Lesser spotted woodpeckers begin to breed in late April and will generally only produce a single clutch of between 3 and 5 eggs. Incubation lasts for around 12 days, after which it can take between 18 and 30 days for the chicks to fully fledge.

Did you know?

In England and Wales this species is highly sedentary, with birds seldom moving far from where they were hatched.

Often mistaken with...

The lesser spotted woodpecker is often mistake with its cousin, the greater spotted woodpecker. The main distinguishable difference between the two is size, with the lesser being about the size of sparrow. Lesser spotted woodpeckers also have a distinctive black and white ladder running down their back.