254 Middle Spotted Woodpecker
(Dendrocopos medius)
Identification
19-22cm. The Middle Spotted Woodpecker is only negligibly smaller than Great Spotted Woodpecker, but still looks clearly smaller owing to the short, slender bill and the rounded, pale head. Sexes similar, with: red crown (reaches further back on male, and colour is brighter red); lack of black moustachial stripe; white forehead and head-side, on which eye stands out as a dark spot; white oval shoulder patches; pinkish vent which fades into yellowish-brown belly; and fine dark streaks on flanks. Often perches across branches in slightly hunched posture and with drooped tail.
Description
The Middle Spotted Woodpecker primarily breeds in older oak forests at medium or high elevations, as well as in forests mixed with oaks, parks, and locally in larger gallery forests, remnant oak woods, and parks in the Great Plain. Its population shows a slightly decreasing tendency. Resident. During winter dispersal appears in forests of the Great Plain outside its breeding range.
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Source: 1) Lovászi Péter (editor): Javasolt különleges madárvédelmi területek Magyarországon, Magyar Madártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület, 2002; 2) BirdLife International:IUCN Red List for birds. Species factsheet; 3) Králl Attila, Nagy Károly: Fontos Madárélőhelyek Magyarországon (Területek, kritériumok és minősítő fajok) MME Monitoring Központ, 2007; 4) Szabolcs Kókay bird illustrations; 5) www.hungarianbirdwatching.com bird descriptions and checklists, 2004-2012; 6) Lars Svensson et al.: Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe 2nd Edition, Harper Collins, 2010; 7) MME Nomenclator Bizottság: Nomenclator avium Hungariae. An annotated list of the birds of Hungary. Magyar Madártani és Természetvédelmi Egyesület, 2008