Woodpeckers
Syrian Woodpecker
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Dendrocopos syriacus
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How to recognize it
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Medium woodpecker, very close to Great Spotted but with a longer bill
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Male with red nape; female lacks it, head shows a larger white cheek patch
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Outer tail feathers with only a few white spots; undertail rosy red
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Call a softer, higher-pitched “kik”; drumming longer than Great Spotted
About the species
The Syrian Woodpecker is a fairly quiet presence in parks, gardens, open woodland, and tree-lined farmland. It is often easier to notice by the way it works a trunk and by its short, sharp calls than by looking for it directly.
Its movements are jerky, more like hopping than climbing, and it usually works upward along a trunk. When it drums, the sound carries well, and its call is a brief "kik" that may be repeated in a quick burst when it is excited.
It needs old trees for food and nesting, so it fits light woods, river valleys, plantings, and green urban edges. Its diet mixes insects with plant food, and in winter it turns readily to nuts, seeds, berries, and fruit; in many places it stays all year.
Where to find
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In mature parks with old deciduous trees, listen for the rapid drumming on a trunk and a short, sharp "kit" from the canopy.
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In orchards, courtyard gardens, and tree-lined streets with old apricots, plums, walnuts, or mulberries — it often forages on branches and in forked limbs, moving tree to tree in quick, jerky flights.
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Along canal banks, river valleys, and dry edges of open woodland with scattered trees — it stays low, hopping up trunks or searching for food in leaf litter and on the ground.
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Near lone poplars, lindens, or plane trees by roads and squares — look for it paused against the bark, then shifting higher in short hops.
