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Great Spotted Woodpecker

Dendrocopos major

Wedges pine cones into a crack in a tree, called an anvil, and hammers out the seeds.

Where to see it for real: Peanuts and suet in a cage feeder close to trees.

Spot it in the game

Lives in the City park habitat (Europe, in a London park).

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Dendrocopos major — Photo: Константин Селивёрстов, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist. Cut out from the original photo.

Great Spotted Woodpecker facts

Family: Woodpeckers
Length: 9.1 in (23 cm)
Wingspan: 16 in (40 cm)
Weight: 2.8 oz (80 g)
Diet: Insect larvae from wood, seeds of pines and spruces, and sometimes eggs and chicks.
Range: Across Europe and northern Asia, and North Africa.
Nest: A hole it digs in a tree trunk.
Song: A sharp "kik" call; in spring it drums very fast on wood.
Active: by day
Status: Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: widespread and not at risk.

What the Great Spotted Woodpecker sounds like

Recording 1: wilmet sebastien, CC0, original on xeno-canto. Trimmed and cleaned of low background noise.

Recording 2: Noé Ferrari, CC BY 4.0, original on xeno-canto. Trimmed and cleaned of low background noise.

How to attract the Great Spotted Woodpecker

Feeder foods, favorite first: peanuts, suet, sunflower seed. Feeders that hold them: tube feeder, platform feeder and suet cage. Keep a bird bath full, too.

In the game: fill a feeder with peanuts, suet and sunflower seed and keep the bird bath full. It is a common visitor.

More: bird songs and calls, what to feed birds.