Greater, Lesser and Medium Spotted Woodpecker. Middle Spotted Woodpecker Medium Spotted Woodpecker
General characteristics and field characteristics
A typical woodpecker is medium in size (length 20-22 cm), somewhat smaller than the Great Spotted Woodpecker. In general, similar to the latter species, especially to its underyearlings, just like the middle one spotted woodpecker, having a red cap on the crown. It differs from the Great Spotted Woodpecker by a solid bright red cap in both sexes, on the back of the head turning into a small crest, which the bird often ruffles, a yellow tint on the light parts of the plumage of the chest and front part of the belly, a wide brownish-dirty-white stripe on the forehead and the front part of the crown, pink lower part of the belly, clear and abundant black streaks on the sides of the body, less development of white on the shoulder spots and wing coverts, intermittency of two black stripes on the white outer tail feathers and their frequent orientation not across, but along the rachis. It differs from the white-backed woodpecker in its smaller size, the yellow color of the front part of the belly, and the absence of white on the back part of the back; from the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - significantly larger in size, with a yellow tint on the front of the belly.
Young birds are duller in color than adults; the stripe on the forehead and front of the crown is noticeably wider.
A very active bird. The trill cry “kick-kick-kirrikikik”, the “kick” cry is softer and quieter than that of the Great Spotted Woodpecker; In the drumming, individual beats are clearly audible, and in duration it is similar to the drumming of a great spotted woodpecker. The chiselling is weaker and less sharp.
Description
Coloring. Adult male. The forehead and anterior part of the crown are dirty white with a brownish tint. The top of the head is bright red. The sides of the head (“cheeks”), the brow stripe that separates the red cap from the eyes, and the lower part of the head are white. The lower part of the head (chin, throat) is separated from the sides by a brown stripe running from the base of the mandible to a black spot on the sides of the neck. The upper part of the neck (neck) and upper body are black. On the sides of the neck there is a large white spot, connecting with the off-white chest, which has a yellowish coating. The belly in the upper part has a well-defined yellow tint, giving way to a pink color at the bottom of the belly. The undertail and the very bottom of the belly are pink-red, in D. m. caucasicus undertail brick-red. The sides of the body are whitish-pink with dark, sometimes faint streaks on the stem. The primaries are black with white spots on the inner and outer webs, but on the inner webs they barely reach their middle. Often (especially in young birds, but also in most adults) white spots are present on both webs of the tips of the primaries. The secondary flight feathers are similarly colored. The upper wing coverts are white, the shoulder feathers are white with a dark base, the lower wing coverts are also white. The tail feathers are brownish-black, the outer fourth and fifth pair of tail feathers are black at the base and white at the apex with black spots or stripes. The third pair of rudders is white only at the end and along the edge of the outer web.
The adult female differs from the male in its smaller size and slightly less saturated color of the red cap, as well as a golden-orange rim along its back.
The beak is dark gray or grayish-black with a yellowish tint to the base of the mandible. Legs dark gray. The iris is reddish brown or pale red. There are no seasonal color changes.
The hatched chicks are naked, devoid of embryonic down, with pink skin. Chicks that have just opened their eyes have a brownish iris.
Young birds differ from adults in duller plumage, a wider frontal stripe and sharper streaks on the sides of the body. When fledglings fly out of the hollow, the iris is red-brown.
Structure and dimensions
The dimensions of the average spotted woodpecker are shown in the table. 29 (col. ZM MSU and MPGU).
| Floor | Wing length | Beak length | Shank length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | lim | average | n | lim | average | n | lim | average | |
| D.m. medius | |||||||||
| Males | 33 | 120,0-139,0 | 126,3 | 33 | 20,0-24,1 | 22,3 | 33 | 18,1-22,5 | 22,0 |
| Females | 24 | 117,0-130,0 | 124,7 | 24 | 20,0-22,9 | 21,3 | 24 | 18,5-22,3 | 21,5 |
| D.m. caucasicus | |||||||||
| Males | 22 | 118,0-138,0 | 123,0 | 22 | 19,7-24,0 | 22,0 | 22 | 20,0-22,5 | 21,0 |
| Females | 14 | 117,0-127,0 | 123,9 | 14 | 18,6-24,4 | 21,3 | 14 | 19,0-22,0 | 21,0 |
Shedding
Poorly studied. In general, it is similar to the molt of the Great Spotted Woodpecker. In adult birds, the complete post-breeding moult apparently begins in June - early July, with the primary flight feathers in the distal direction; ends in September-October. In four collection specimens from the end of June VII, the primaries have already changed or were growing; on July 15, the V and VI primaries are shorter than normal length; in the specimen from August 25, IV the primaries have not yet fully formed. By the end of August, all flight feathers are fresh. The change of helmsmen was noted from the end of June to mid-August; the birds turned out to be completely moulted at the beginning of October (Gladkov, 1951; Cramp, 1985).
In Belarus, adult males had a change of primaries VIII-IX on July 1, primaries VI-VII changed on August 7, and primaries II-III changed on September 21 (the second had a length of 61 mm). All the other flywheels were already fresh. In the female on July 24, the V primary was 1/3 of the length, the 2nd and 3rd pairs of tail feathers were still in tubes. In individuals from October 4, the growth of contour feathers on the chest and back has not yet finished (Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967).
The postjuvenile moult in the average spotted woodpecker, unlike the great spotted woodpecker, begins during emergence, and not before it. IN Western Europe The beginning of molting is at the end of May - the end of June, it ends at the end of August - the end of September. The duration of molting of primary flight feathers in young birds is on average 12 days longer than in adults (Cramp, 1985). In Belarus, on June 10, young birds changed to VI-VII primaries, on July 14 - VI,III primaries, as well as the 4th pair of helmsmen. In October, molting ends (Fedyushin and Dolbik, 1967).
Subspecies taxonomy
Insufficiently developed. Different authors distinguish from 3 to 7 subspecies (Gladkov, 1951; Vaurie, 1965; Stepanyan, 1990; Howard, Moore, 1984; Cramp, 1985). N.A. Gladkov (1951) distinguishes 5 subspecies: D. m. medius, D. m. lilianae, D. m. caucasicus, D. m. sanctijohannis, D. m. anatoliae.
S. Cramp (Cramp, 1985) and subsequent authors reduce lilianae (Iberian Peninsula) to synonyms of the nominative subspecies and list 4 subspecies. The forms splendidior (southern Balkan Peninsula) and laubmanni (Southern Transcaucasia) are also not recognized. The differences between the subspecies are in the degree of development of red and yellow colors on the underside of the body, the intensity of the development of dark streaks on the chest and sides of the body, the details of the tail pattern, as well as in size. There is significant individual variability birds.
In the territory former USSR There are 2 subspecies (original descriptions and diagnoses are given according to: Stepanyan, 1990).
1.Dendrocopos medius medius
Picus medius Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., 10, p.114, Sweden.
The yellow color on the lower chest and upper abdomen is not rich or bright. Red coloration of the underbelly and undertail of a light pink shade. The dark stem spots on the sides of the body are light brown and less developed. The white field on the shoulders is wider.
2.Dendrocopos medius caucasicus
Dendrocoptes medius caucasicus Bianchi, 1904, Yearbook Zool. Museum of the Academy of Sciences, 9 (1904), p. 4, North Caucasus.
The yellow color of the chest and upper abdomen is brighter, golden yellow. The red coloration of the lower belly and undertail is more red, less pinkish. Dark stem spots on the sides of the abdomen are more developed and have a brownish-black or black color. The white area on the shoulders is less extensive.
Subspecies D. m. anatoliae (3) is distributed in the south and west of Asia Minor, and D. m. sanctijohannis (4) - in the Zagros Mountains (southwestern Iran).
Spreading
Nesting area. Outside the territory of the former USSR, the range of the common spotted woodpecker covers Western and Central Europe, with the exception of the British Isles and the Scandinavian Peninsula (by 1982-1983 the population disappeared in Southern Sweden; Petersson, 1983, 1984), the Mediterranean coast of France, the Iberian Peninsula (isolated population lives in the Cantabrian Mountains), the islands of Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily. It lives in Turkey and western Iran to the Zagros and Fars and south to Northern Iraq (Stepanyan, 1975, 1990; Cramp, 1985) (Fig. 87).
Figure 87.
a - nesting area. Subspecies: 1 - D. m. medius, 2 - D. m. caucasicus, 3 - D. m. anatoliae, 4 - D. m. sanctijohannis.
In the territory of the former USSR, the range of the species (Fig. 88) by the mid-1980s. covered the Kaliningrad region, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus to the north to approximately 58° N, Moldova, Ukraine (with the exception of its southern steppe part and Crimea), Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Oryol, Lipetsk, and the western part of the Voronezh regions. The border of this part of the range ran approximately as follows: to the north from the Kaliningrad region, the latitude of Riga, then the border turned sharply south to the regions of Minsk, Mogilev, then passed along the extreme southwest of the Smolensk, south of the Kaluga and Tula regions, where it turned further to the south -East. Meetings during nesting time were known for the Pskov and Kalinin regions (Tretyakov, 1940; Malchevsky, Pukinsky, 1985; Bardin, 2001). The eastern border ran from the Tula region through the Lipetsk region and possibly the west of the Tambov region to the Voronezh region, where in the area of the city of Bobrova it sharply turned southwest to the eastern and southern regions of the Kharkov region, the western part of the Dnepropetrovsk region and further to the lower reaches of the Dnieper and the Black Sea coast. Thus, the southern border of the range skirted the steppes of southern Ukraine and Crimea from the north (Gladkov, 1951; Strautman, 1963; Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967; Averin, Ganya, 1970; Ivanov, 1976; Stepanyan, 1990).
Figure 88.
a - nesting area, b - insufficiently clarified border of the nesting area, c - isolated cases of nesting outside the area, d - flights. Subspecies: 1 - D. m. medius, 2 - D. m. caucasicus.
However, from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. a noticeable expansion of the species' range began in the northern and eastern directions. In Latvia this was noted in the early 1980s, when middle woodpecker began to nest regularly in the republic (Celmins, 1985). By the beginning of the 1990s. the species has colonized the whole of Latvia, including the islands of the Gulf of Riga, where it appeared for breeding in 1992; in 1993 nested in the forests of Vilkene and Ķemeri (Bergmanis, Strazds, 1993). In the fall of 1980, the common woodpecker was found in the city of Pechory (Bardin, 2001). In Estonia, the first registration of the species was in October 1990 south of Pärnu (Leivits, 1994), and in 2000 a nest was discovered in the park of Räpina, located 30 km northwest of Pechora (Kinks, Elteraiaa, 2000 , cited in: Bardin, 2001).
Currently, in Belarus, the common woodpecker inhabits the western and southern parts of the republic, in the Smolensk region it is found in the extreme south (Nikiforov et al., 1997, data from D.E. Te). In the neighboring Bryansk region, the species nests in the north-west in the Kletnyansky forest and in the south in the Desnyansky Polesie (Kosenko, 1996, 2000; Kosenko et al. 1998, 2000). In 1994, the common woodpecker was discovered in the south of the Kaluga region, in the Kaluzhskie Zaseki nature reserve; by 2002, 20–40 pairs lived here (Kostin, 1998; Egorova, Kostin, 2000; Kosenko et al. 20006). In the Tula region, the species is found in the forests of the north-west and center of the region; nesting was noted in 1992-1994. in Prioksky, Novomoskovsky and in 2001 in Venevsky districts (data from N.A. Egorova, O.V. Shvets, V.E. Fridman; Redkin et al. 2003).
Presumably in the 1980s this species entered the Moscow region. Before this, only three occurrences of the species were known within the region, which, however, were questioned (Ptushenko, Inozemtsev, 1968). Since 1981, single birds, mainly during non-breeding times, and, less often, pairs in the spring-summer period, have been observed in different areas of the region, as well as in Moscow forest parks and the Main Botanical Garden. To date, more than 10 encounters of the species are known (Avilova et al. 1998; Fridman, 1998; Arkhipov, Kalyakin, 2003; data from X. Groot Kurkampa, V.A. Zubakina, Ya.A. Redkina, B.L. Samoilova). Nesting was first established near Moscow in 1986, later in the south of the region - in 1994 in the Serebryano-Prudsky district and in 1998 in the vicinity of the city of Stupino (Redkin, 1998; Fridman, 1998; data from B.L. Samoilov). IN Ryazan region The species nests in the Rybnovsky district and in the Oksky reserve (Ivanchev, in press; data from V.S. Fridman).
To the south, the common spotted woodpecker sporadically inhabits Lipetsk, Kursk, Tambov (Tsninsky and Voroninsky forests), Penza regions (Khrustov et al. 1995; Nedosekin et al. 1996; Zemlyanukhin, Klimov et al. 1997; Sokolov, Lada, 2000; Kosenko, Korolkov, 2002; Frolov, Korkina, in press).
In 1991, it was first discovered nesting in the west of the Saratov region. Breeds in the Khopr and Medveditsa valleys in the Volgograd region, where it has spread all the way to the Volga Upland. Nowadays, the eastern border of the nesting range in this area runs along 45°31′ E, and the southern border at 50°40′ N. In winter, nomadic birds penetrate even further to the east (Khrustov et al. 1995; Zavyalov, Lobanov, 1996; Zavyalov, Tabachishin, 2000). From the Volgograd region, the southern border of the range turns west-southwest to the middle reaches of the river. Don in the Rostov region (Sholokhovsky district), where the species penetrated in the late 1980s. Then it goes to the area of the city of Lugansk (Belik, 1990) and further, bypassing the steppes of Ukraine, to the south of Moldova.
Flights were registered in July 1988 and February 1989 in the city of Plyos Ivanovo region(Gerasimov et al. 2000) and in Sverdlovsk region(place and date not specified; Ryabitsev et al. 2001). There is evidence of possibly isolated nesting in the early 1950s. in the Buzuluksky forest of the Orenburg region (Darshkevich, 1953; cited by Davygora, 2000), however, there is no modern evidence of the presence of the species here.
The Caucasian part of the species' range, inhabited by the race D. m. caucasicus, more stable. The species inhabits the Greater Caucasus to the north to its foot and the Kuban valley in the west and the forests of the low mountains of Dagestan in the east; Transcaucasia from the Black Sea coast to the southeastern ends of the Greater Caucasus in Northern Azerbaijan and the eastern parts of the Lesser Caucasus, including the deciduous forests of Armenia. Absent in the upper parts of the forest belt and in the highlands, as well as in Talysh (Gladkov, 1951; Drozdov, 1963, 1965; Tkachenko, 1966; Zhordania, 1962; Ivanov, 1976; Stepanyan, 1990) (Fig. 88).
Migrations
In most of its range, the species leads a sedentary-nomadic lifestyle. In the central and southern part of its range in Europe it makes extensive autumn-winter migrations (Cramp, 1985). In Russia, in the north and east of the range, post-nesting migrations are apparently more regular, but their extent and frequency have not been studied. Probably, the bulk of migratory birds are young birds. In Transcarpathia, in the fall it rises up river valleys, without reaching the coniferous forest belt (Stroutman, 1963). The expansion of the range, accompanied by the settlement of new, remote and isolated forest areas, also indicates wide spatial movements of part of the species population.
In the northwestern Caucasus in winter it penetrates into the coniferous forest belt, regularly from February to the end of March found in parks and forests near populated areas of the Black Sea coast in the vicinity of Sochi (Tilba, 1986).
Habitat
The average spotted woodpecker inhabits deciduous and coniferous-deciduous forests, old abandoned gardens and parks, forest edges, old sparse forests with drying out and dead trees. Prefers forests of plains, river valleys, foothills and low mountains. At the same time, in Germany (near Helwegberg) it also nested in pine forests. It does not penetrate high into the mountains: in the Carpathians no higher than 800-1000 m. The exception is the populations of the middle mountains of the Alps in Lower Austria, where the average spotted woodpecker nests not only in deciduous forests, but also in old apple and pear orchards (Hochebner, 1993). Single nestings in orchards during normal wintering have also been observed in Moldova (Tsibulyak, 1994,1996). In the Western Caucasus, it inhabits mainly low and middle mountains, but can penetrate to the upper boundaries of the forest, where it is very rare (Tilba, Kazakov, 1985; Polivanov, Polivanova, 1986). In Transcaucasia it usually lives up to 900 m, but it has also been caught at an altitude of 2300 m (Zhordania, 1962).
In Europe, the species is very closely related to upland oak forests; The remaining biotopes are practically not inhabited, except for swampy ripe alder forests in the north and northeast of the range (Wesolowski, Tomialojc, 1986). Birds avoid hornbeam and beech forests, the usual companions of the Central European broad-leaved forest, unless the hornbeam or beech is “diluted” with oak. The species prefers mature oak forests, avoiding both young growth and overmature forests (Ruge, 1971a; Conrads, 1975; Jenni, 1977; Muller, 1982; Mityai, 1984,1985; Sennet, Horisberger, 1988; Belik, 1990; Gunter, 1992; Hochebner, 1993; Tsibulyak, 1994,1996; Glavan, 1996; Friedman, 1996). In the Desnyansky Polesie during the nesting period, the average spotted woodpecker is confined to oak-ash forests in the floodplains of rivers and coniferous-deciduous forests in the interfluves. These can be either closed tree stands or pasture-type forests with meadow glades, clearings, and small ponds. The minimum age of inhabited oak forests is 60 years. In the southeast of the breeding range of D. m. medius lives mainly in floodplain deciduous forests, including heavily littered riverine forests of willow and sedge, where there is a lot of dead wood and rotten wood (Belik, 1990; Zavyalov, Tabachishin, 2000). It inhabits similar habitats - old poplar forests with a large number of old rotten trees (in addition to oak forests and oak-hornbeam forests) in the south of Dagestan, in the lower reaches of the Samur River (data from V.T. Butyev).
Number
Not studied enough. The total number of pileated woodpeckers in Europe excluding Russia is 53,000-97,000 breeding pairs (Hagemeijer and Blair, 1997). The number of species in Latvia is estimated at 1,500-2,000 pairs with an average population density of the species of 0.46-2.39 pairs/km2 in different areas (Bergmanis, Strazds, 1993). In Belarus, the total estimated number of the middle woodpecker at the end of the 20th century was 5,000-9,000 pairs (Nikiforov et al., 1997). In the broad-leaved forests of Polesie, the species is common and rarer in pine-oak and alder forests (Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967). In Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the density in the most favorable habitat zones reaches 1 pair per 10 hectares (Wesolowski, Tomialojc, 1986). In Moldova, during the nesting seasons of 1966-1973. in the old garden there were 0.1-0.2 pairs/ha, in linden-ash oak forests and oak forests with hornbeam from 0.6 to 2 individuals/km2 (Ganya, Litvak, 1976). In spring, the abundance of the species here reached 1-8 individuals/km2.
In the Kodry Nature Reserve, in a linden-ash oak grove of sessile oak, the population density of the species is 17.2 individuals/km2, in a beech oak grove of pedunculate oak - 11.6 individuals/km2; in early spring population density drops to 9.6 and 6.4 individuals/km2, respectively, and nesting density in the linden-ash oak forest reaches 4.6 individuals/km2. In autumn, in the linden-ash oak grove the number again increases to 11.2 individuals/km2, and in the beech oak grove it drops to 5.9 individuals/km2 (Glavan, 1996).
Throughout the western regions of Ukraine, this species was scarce and distributed sporadically (Stroutman, 1963). In Central Ukraine, in the Dnieper forest-steppe, the average spotted woodpecker inhabits oak forests with a density of 4–6 individuals/km2, pine-broad-leaved forests - 1.6-2 individuals/km2, gaff forests - 1-2 individuals/km2, floodplain alder forests - less than 0, 2 individuals/km2 (Mityai, 1979, 1985).
In the forest-steppe oak forests of the Belgorod region, the middle spotted woodpecker was common, but not numerous (Novikov, 1959). In the mountain oak forests of the Tellerman forestry (Belgorod region) it nested with a density of 2 individuals/km2 (Korolkova, 1963). At the end of the 20th century in the Kaliningrad region, as well as in most regions of the center of European Russia, it was noted as a rare or very rare species (Nedosekin, 1997; Grishanov, 2000; Sokolov, Lada, 2000; Margolin, 2000; Fadeeva, 2000; Red Book of the Russian Federation, 2000). However, in Desnyansky Polesie the number of the species turned out to be quite high. Depending on the degree of fragmentation of the main habitats, the population density of the average woodpecker here was: in large tracts of oak-ash forests - 1.05-1.36, on average 1.21 pairs / 10 hectares, in fragments of coniferous-broad-leaved forest - respectively, 0 ,16-0.24 and 0.20 pairs/10 ha. Outside the breeding season, 2.8 individuals/10 km of route were registered in the coniferous-broad-leaved forest, and 0.5 in the oak-ash forest; in small forests - 0.2 individuals/10 km of route. In general, in the territory of the Nerusso-Desnyansky Polesye and in the Kletnyansky forest, the estimated number of the average spotted woodpecker is estimated at 600-850 pairs (Kosenko, Kaygorodova, 1998; 2002; 2003). In the Kursk region, the abundance has been established for several forests: in the Banishchansky forest on an area of about 4 thousand hectares - 300 pairs, in the Petrin (536 hectares) and Kozatsky (512 hectares) forests there are 36 and 40 pairs (Kosenko, Korolkov, 2002).
In the floodplain deciduous forests of the Saratov region, the density of the nesting population of the species reaches 2.7-3.8 individuals/km2 in different years; in winter, due to the migration of some individuals beyond the floodplains, it decreases to 0.3 individuals/km2 (Zavyalov, Tabachishin, 2000) . In the Rostov region total number this woodpecker does not exceed 100 pairs; in the late 1990s. its numbers in the Middle Don have increased noticeably. In the Kletsky district of the Volgograd region, in floodplain forests, the average spotted woodpecker is not inferior in number to the lesser spotted woodpecker and continues to intensively spread along the Don River valley (Belik, 2000; 2002).
In the northwestern Caucasus, in the chestnut forests of the Caucasus Reserve, the population density is less than 2.5 individuals/km2 (Tilba, Kazakov, 1985), in the low-mountain hornbeam-oak forests of the southern slopes of the Western Caucasus in early June 1982 on the territory of the Golovinsky Reserve - 10 individuals/km2, in floodplain alder forests of the river. Shahe in some areas it reached 13 individuals/km2 (data from V.T. Butyev). In Kabardino-Balkaria, in oak-hornbeam forests the average density was 5 individuals/km2, in beech-hornbeam forests - 3 individuals/km2 (Afonin, 1985). In the vicinity of Lake Gokgel in Azerbaijan, at the upper border of the deciduous forest, the average spotted woodpecker was common - 5 individuals/km2 (Drozdov, 1965). In the north of Azerbaijan in the lower belt of broad-leaved forests in gardens and populated areas in winter its density reached 2 individuals/km2.
In Southern Dagestan, the seasonal dynamics of the species' abundance in the broad-leaved liana forests of the lower reaches of the river was studied. Samur. In poplar forests, the number in winter and spring is low - 0.3 and 1.7 individuals/km2; in summer it is higher - 8.3 individuals/km2 and by autumn it drops slightly - 4.5 individuals/km2. In oak-poplar forests, the number varies by season as follows: in winter - 3.9 individuals/km2, in spring - 2.6, in summer - 31.9 and in autumn - 5.3 individuals/km2. In pure oak forests, the number fluctuates much less: in winter - 7.3 individuals/km2, in spring - 10.4, in summer - 15.7, in autumn - 11.3 individuals/km2. In oak-hornbeam forests, the number also fluctuates greatly: in winter - 6.7 individuals/km2, in spring - 14.8, in summer - 19.7, and in autumn - 25 individuals/km2. In hornbeam forests, the number is consistently low, especially in spring - 1.1 individuals/km2 (in winter 7.0, in summer - 8.0, in autumn - 1.1 individuals/km2). In alder forests it is found only in winter and spring - 2.3 and 0.2 individuals/km2. During non-breeding times, single individuals were found in reed thickets, garden plots, steppe landscape with shrubs and acacia plantings (data from V.T. Butyev and E.A. Lebedeva).
Reproduction
Daily activity, behavior
Typically a diurnal bird, details of daily activity are poorly understood. In the oak grove “Forest on Vorskla” in winter he wakes up at 7:48 a.m. and falls asleep at 4:25 p.m. In May-June he wakes up at about 3:40 a.m., falling asleep at 7:53 p.m. (Novikov, 1959); like all cavity nesters, it wakes up later than other bird species. During the non-breeding season, it often spends the night in natural hollows and birdhouses (Sollinger, 1933).
In forest-steppe oak forests in January 1958, associations of the common spotted woodpecker, the common nuthatch and the common blue tit were observed, as well as associations of this species with the great spotted woodpecker, the common nuthatch and the common pika (Novikov, 1959). However, according to other authors (Cramp, 1985; Torok, 1986,1988), the common spotted woodpecker avoids feeding with the great spotted and lesser spotted woodpeckers due to competition between them.
Nutrition
The average spotted woodpecker typically feeds on animal feed. In the forest-steppe oak groves of the Belgorod region in summer, it eats mainly adults and pupae of Formicidae (100% of encounters), including Lasius niger - 63.7%, Formica rufa - 27.3%, F.pratensis and Myrmica sp. - 18.2% (n = 14) (Novikov, 1969). In the same biotopes of the Voronezh region, the share of ants in the summer diet of birds is also significant: Lasius sp. - 29%, Camponotus sp. - 7% (Korolkova, 1963). In Belarus, 1 spider and 72 specimens were found in 7 stomachs. insects, including 20 ants and 12 earwigs (Fedyushin and Dolbik, 1967). Often eats caterpillars of butterflies - 27.3% (Novikov, 1969), scale insects, mainly northern oak hermes - 18.2% (Korolkova, 1963; Novikov, 1969), imago Coleoptera (families Cerambycidae and Curculionidae - 9.1% , Scarabaeidae - 18.2%) (Novikov, 1969). It often eats bedbugs (Pyrrocoris apterus). Seeds and acorns are rare in food; in the dry summer of 1946, 118 strawberry seeds were found in one stomach (Korolkova, 1963; Novikov, 1969). In Desnyansky Polesye, feathery corydalis caterpillars, May beetles, remains of ground beetles, ants and bedbugs were found in the stomachs of dead chicks (Kosenko, Kaygorodova, 2003). The stomach of a bird caught in April in the Moscow region contained many remains of beetles: leaf beetles Phratora laticolla, ground beetles Agonum assimila and Dromius gagroticcolis, elephant beetles Polidrusus cervinus, as well as ants Formica exsecta aF.polictesa. The stomach also contained a lot of wood dust (Redkin, 1998).
In winter, in the oak forests of the Belgorod region, woodpeckers feed on the following types of food (2 stomachs were examined): adult Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (Formicidae) - 1,826 specimens; ants of the genera Formica, Lasius, Myrmica - 36 specimens each; Lace borer larvae (Buprestidae) - 34 specimens. Remains of acorns were found in one stomach (Novikov, 1969). According to G.E. Korolkova (1963), the share of plant foods and bugs in the diet in winter increases, while Ants decreases.
Middle spotted woodpeckers feed their chicks with animal feed. In the oak forests of the Voronezh region, they brought mainly caterpillars of the family to the nest. Geometridae (up to 40% of encounters and 450 specimens per day) and Agrostidae (Calimnia sp. - 16% of encounters, Amphipiraperflna - 29%), less commonly gypsy moth - 10%. Only occasionally were spiders, leaf roller caterpillars and larvae of xylophagous beetles found in the food of the chicks (Korolkova, 1963). When there is an outbreak in the number of gypsy moths or cutworms, woodpeckers completely switch to feeding on these caterpillars (Korolkova, 1963).
Of all the species of the genus Dendrocopos, the average spotted woodpecker, in its morphology (structure of the skull, muscles of the neck and tongue, development of the salivary glands, structure of the horny tip of the tongue) is the least adapted for real chiselling, but is highly specialized for collecting and pecking in motion (Poznanin, 1949; Blume, 1968). Birds collect food on the surface of the trunks of branches and leaves; often hang on thin branches, like tits, and only feed the chicks with food collected from the surface (Feindt and Reblin, 1959). However, the woodpecker can crush nuts, seeds, and terrestrial mollusks in cracks in the bark and in specially hollowed-out recesses; each such “forge” is used 3-4 times (Cramp, 1985; data from V.S. Friedman).
The predominant methods of collecting food from the common spotted woodpecker are inclined gouging, which requires less force to strike, picking, and pecking. Passing the substrate through the beak (removal) is extremely poorly developed in this species. General strategy foraging consists of quickly inspecting thick oak branches as they go and chiseling with oblique blows or picking out food. The species does not miss a single food source, but underutilizes medium and abundant sources. To collect food, it prefers thick branches of the upper part of the crown of living or dying pedunculate or sessile oaks. The woodpecker ignores other types of oak trees, using them no more often than, for example, hornbeam. To the greatest extent, it prefers live thick branches in the upper quarter of the crown and lower quarter of the crown, as well as thick dry branches of the upper quarter of the crown and medium dry branches of the upper quarter of the crown (Muller, 1982; Jenni, 1983; Torok, 1986, 1988; Tsibulyak, 1994 ; Friedman, 1996).
The middle woodpecker is noted to ring trees and drink the sap of birch and maple (especially sycamore Acer platanoides) (Serez, 1983; Cramp, 1985; Kosenko, Kaygorodova, 2003). In winter, it can visit feeders (Zubakin, 2004).
Enemies, unfavorable factors
Not studied enough. In Western Europe, due to changes in the nature of management forestry, in which withered and old trees are quickly selected, a reduction in the number and range of the species occurs; Of all the woodpeckers, the common spotted woodpecker suffers the most from forestry intensification (Angelstam and Mikusinski, 1994). Fragmentation of oak forests, especially when combined with their rejuvenation, is also detrimental for the species (Petersson, 1984; Kosenko and Kaygorodova, 2001, 2001). Under the influence of these factors, an isolated population in southern Sweden disappeared; the existence of the Spanish isolated population is threatened (Petersson, 1983, 1984). A negative impact on the wintering population of the species of low winter temperatures (below −20°C) and bad weather during the period of feeding chicks was discovered (Kosenko, Kaygorodova, 2003). Enemies may be hawks, martens, and possibly dormouse, which can destroy clutches and small chicks. In Desnyansky Polesie, cases of colonization of cavities under construction by the Spotted Woodpecker with the Great Spotted Woodpecker were observed, which led to a shift in the timing of the breeding of the Spotted Woodpecker to later ones (Kosenko, Kaygorodova, 2003).
Economic importance, protection
Has a regulatory effect on many pests Agriculture and in combination with other species of woodpeckers and insectivorous birds is beneficial (Korolkova, 1963, 1966). Subspecies D. m. medius is listed in the Red Books of Latvia and Russian Federation However, in Western and Central Europe, according to the latest data, the state of the species is quite favorable. Subspecies D. m. caucasicus is listed in the Red Book of North Ossetia.
Middle Spotted Woodpecker- a very active, energetic, cautious bird, smaller great woodpecker. Body length 21 cm, wing 13 cm, tail 8 cm.
Spreading. Europe and the western part of Western Asia. Europe from northwestern Spain and the Pyrenees east to the southern part of Pskov, Smolensk, Kaluga, Tula, Voronezh, eastern part of Kharkov, western part of Dnepropetrovsk regions, eastern part of Moldova. North to southern Sweden, southern Lithuania, southern part of the Pskov region.
The beak of the average spotted woodpecker is weak, the crown is colored red in males and females. The back and rump are black. The wings are black, with a large white spot made up of the middle and large coverts, and with 6-7 large transverse stripes (from the white spots on the large flight feathers). The top of the head and undertail are red. The underparts are dirty yellowish-white, with sparse longitudinal dark streaks on the sides. The sides of the head and neck are white, along the sides of the neck there is a wide oblong black spot. The throat and crop are white, the chest is yellowish, the belly and undertail are pink-red; There are black speckles on the sides of the chest. The beak is bluish, the legs are dark gray. The female differs from the male only in the less bright color of the crown, slightly yellowish nape and a large number of black specks on the sides of the chest. Young birds differ from the female only in a paler shade of the red parts.
Biotope. The middle woodpecker inhabits Various types deciduous forest. At the same time, clear preference is given to oak forests on watersheds, floodplain oak forests and lipoak forests; it also settles in mixed forests, where the participation of oak exceeds 50%. Avoids tall forests and is not found in purely coniferous forests. Not afraid of the proximity of human habitation.
Nature of stay. A rare sedentary, partially nomadic species.
Reproduction. The beginning of the mating season for the common spotted woodpecker is dated to the first days of March and is expressed in the active mating of several males and females at once. During February - April, mating birds move over a relatively large area (up to 2-3 km2), and only during the period of hollow building and copulation the pair chooses a permanent area. The nest is usually made at a high altitude; a clutch of 5-6 eggs occurs as early as April. The female lays eggs daily, but dense incubation apparently begins only from the 3rd egg; both partners participate in incubation. Young birds are less cautious than adult birds. Broods are fed by their parents and disintegrate after 9-12 days, but individual fledglings continue to follow their parents for another 22-24 days.
The food of the average woodpecker consists of various insects, and from plant substances mainly nuts and acorns. Chips wood significantly less.
His movements are very fast and dexterous, which justifies his Russian name"fidgety woodpecker" A useful forest bird that deserves protection and attraction.
Variability is manifested in varying degrees of development of red and yellow colors on the underside of the body, in the degree of development of dark streaks on the sides of the body, and in the details of the tail pattern. There are 4 subspecies.
Literature:
1. Boehme R.L., Kuznetsov A.A. Birds of forests and mountains of the USSR: Field guide, 1981
2. Birds of Europe. Practical ornithology, St. Petersburg, 1901
3. Abstract of the ornithological fauna of the USSR. L. S. Stepanyan. Moscow, 1990
4. Birds of the north of the Lower Volga region. Saratov University, 2007 Authors: E.V. Zavyalov, G.V. Shlyakhtin, V.G. Tabachishin, N.N. Yakushev, E.Yu. Mosolova, KV. Ugolnikov
Appearance and behavior. Slightly smaller (body length 20–22 cm, wingspan 34–35 cm, weight 50–80 g). The beak is relatively small. It is characterized by high mobility.
Description. There is an oblong white spot on the folded wing. The chest and front part of the belly are dirty white with a yellow tint in the lower part, mottled with dark longitudinal streaks. Black on the sides of the head and neck Y-shaped spot that is not connected either to the base of the beak or to the black neck. The back of the belly and undertail are bright pink. In the male, the crown is bright red; in the female, it is slightly paler, with an indistinct posterior edge. There are no seasonal variations in plumage. In young birds, the color of the plumage is duller, the crown in front is reddish (in males it is brighter than in females). It differs from the Great Pied in its red crown, separation of the “whiskers” from the neck, and dark streaks on the sides of the body. It differs from young woodpeckers of these species primarily in the absence of black mustache and a black outline on the sides of the cap. It is distinguished by its significantly smaller size, a white spot on the folded wing, a black back, and by its larger size, a white spot on the folded wing, a reddish undertail and a black back.
Voice. Unlike other spotted woodpeckers, the common woodpecker very rarely makes drumming sounds. Its replacement during mating is the characteristic cry “ uh... uh...", comparable to moaning. For everyday contact, a series of calls is used " ki-ki-ki...", the quieter and softer " kuk».
Distribution, status. The range covers a significant part of Europe and the western part of Western Asia. In European Russia, it is distributed in the west of forest and forest-steppe zones, including the Moscow, Ryazan, Penza and Saratov regions in the north, Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Rostov and Volgograd regions in the south.
A smaller area of distribution includes the North Caucasus and Ciscaucasia, where this species is represented by a special race D.m. caucasicus, characterized by a bright yellow color bottom side chest and upper belly, as well as a brighter red undertail. Rare in the northern part of its range, common in the Caucasus. Leads a predominantly sedentary lifestyle.
Lifestyle. Inhabits mainly old-growth broad-leaved forests dominated by oak. Hollows are found in trunks and thick branches of dead or dying trees, mainly aspen, oak and alder. Both parents take part in the construction of the hollow, incubation of eggs and feeding of chicks. The chicks hatch naked and blind. In the warm season, it feeds on open-living insects, which it collects from the surface of leaves and trunks. During the rest of the year, it looks for insects in rough folds of bark. In spring, it willingly drinks maple and birch sap from holes punched in the bark. Breeds offspring once per year.
Dzyatsel syaredni, ci Dzyatsel stracats syaredni
The entire territory of Belarus
Woodpecker family - Picidae.
In Belarus - D. m. medius (the subspecies inhabits the entire European part of the species' range).
A small breeding sedentary and nomadic species, more common in the south of the republic; does not nest north of the latitude of the Berezinsky Nature Reserve.
Noticeably smaller than the spotted and white-backed woodpecker, but larger than the lesser woodpecker. The male has a red top of the head, a dirty white forehead, and white sides of the head. From the base of the beak, bending around the bottom of the cheeks, there is a black-brown stripe, blurring into a black spot on the sides of the neck. The back and neck are black. The chest and crop are white with a yellow-pink tint. The belly and undertail are pink-red. The feathers on the sides are pink with dark longitudinal streaks. The primary flight feathers are black with white spots on the inner and outer webs and white tips. The shoulder and underwing coverts are white. The rudders are black, the outermost ones in the pre-apical part are white with black transverse spots. Legs lead-gray. The beak is dark horn in color, the lower jaw is yellowish. The rainbow is red-brown. The female has a smaller red cap than the male, and the overall coloring is duller. Male weight 52-80 g, female 53.5-85 g. Body length (both sexes) 19-22 cm, wingspan 36-42 cm.
A relatively active, restless bird. Scream - often repeated “kick-kick-kick...”.
Inhabits mainly deciduous forests - oak forests (including floodplain ones), hornbeam and oak-hornbeam forests. Frequent in alder forests, as well as in pine-oak forests. Occasionally found in spruce-oak and spruce-small-leaved forests. For nesting it selects areas of mature, often closed, tree stand. However, it often settles near clearings and clearings.
In southwestern Belarus it inhabits old broad-leaved and mixed forests, parks, preferring oak forests. Currently, this species is especially numerous in the floodplain oak forests of the Pinsk and Stolin forestry enterprises.
Since the beginning of April, the birds have been keeping in pairs. Breeds in solitary pairs. The nest is made in a hollow, which the couple themselves hollows out within 15-20 days. For this purpose, he always selects trees with soft, rotting wood (alder, aspen, linden, birch, wild fruit trees), and less often - hornbeam and oak trunks affected by heart rot. Often hollows are hollowed out in tall old stumps. Sometimes it occupies hollows of other woodpecker species. The height of the hollows above the ground is 3-5, less often up to 10 m. The entrance is usually round, but sometimes irregular in shape. There is no bedding other than wood dust in the hollow. The diameter of the hole (data from the literature) is 5 cm, the depth of the hollow is up to 21 cm.
A complete clutch consists of 5-6, rarely 7-8 eggs. The shell is pure white, smooth, shiny. Egg weight 4 g, length 22-24 mm, diameter 18-19 mm.
Egg laying begins at the end of April (in the south) - beginning of May; fresh clutches may occur at the end of this month. There is one brood per year. Incubation lasts 12-14 days. Both parents incubate. The time the chicks stay in the nest is 20-23 days. In the brood in the Brest, Ivatsevichi and Stolin forestry enterprises there are usually 3–6 chicks. Literally a week after the young birds fly out, the brood disintegrates and the parents stop feeding the young. In July, young woodpeckers, having dispersed one by one, roam independently and in flocks with tits. Their migrations are especially noticeable in September and later.
The beginning of the molt is unknown. In August - September, the young ones change into small feathers, and in October the molting ends.
The main diet of this species is xylophagous insects and ants. Feeds by examining the bark of trees; rarely chisels wood. In summer - ants, in autumn and winter - caterpillars, leaf beetles, click beetle larvae, elephant beetles, ground beetles, longhorned beetles.
Observations of two nests in southwestern Belarus (in one nest there were 5 chicks of six days of age, in the other - 6 chicks of eight days of age) in the Tomashevsky forestry in 2010 showed that parents bring food to the nest 150–210 times. Foraging activity is slightly higher in the morning and evening hours, below - in the middle of the day.
The number of woodpeckers in Belarus is stable, estimated at 5–9 thousand pairs.
The maximum age recorded in Europe is 9 years 4 months.
Literature
1. Grichik V.V., Burko L.D. " Animal world Belarus. Vertebrates: textbook. manual" Minsk, 2013. -399 p.
2. Nikiforov M. E., Yaminsky B. V., Shklyarov L. P. “Birds of Belarus: A guide to nests and eggs” Minsk, 1989. -479 p.
3. Gaiduk V. E., Abramova I. V. "Ecology of birds in the southwest of Belarus. Non-passerines: monograph." Brest, 2009. -300s.
4. Fedyushin A.V., Dolbik M.S. “Birds of Belarus”. Minsk, 1967. -521 p.
5. Gaiduk V. E., Abramova I. V. “Ecology of highly specialized bird-dart frogs during the breeding season in forest ecosystems” / Bulletin of the Breskaya University, 2016 – No. 2. pp. 16–21.
6. Fransson, T., Jansson, L., Kolehmainen, T., Kroon, C. & Wenninger, T. (2017) EURING list of longevity records for European birds.
Dendrocopos medius (Linnaeus, 1758)
Order Woodpeckers - Piciformes
Woodpecker family - Picidae
Spreading. In the Moscow region. - a rare species on the border of its range (2), nesting has been known since 1986 (3). Within Moscow, it was first encountered in 1979 - in the Ostankino oak grove (4, 5). In the 1980-1990s. during the non-breeding period it was recorded in Zyablikovsky and Biryulyovsky lagoon (5), as well as in the Medvedkovo region (6), during the nesting season - twice in Losiny Ostrov (7, 8), as well as in Teplostansky gulk (9) .
During the revision period, it was registered in Losiny Ostrov in 2008 (8) and 2009 (10), Izmailovsky Forest in 2003-2009. (11-17), Tsaritsyn Park in 2009 (18), North. Butovo forest in 2007 and 2008 (19), different parts of Bitsevsky forest in 2007-2009. (20-24), Uzkoy in 2008 (25), Fili-Kuntsevo Lake in 2005 and 2006 (25-28), Tushinskaya Chasha in 2009 (29), GBS in 2003-2005 and 2009 (thirty). In 2009, for the first time in Moscow, the fact of nesting of the common spotted woodpecker was established on the territory of the GBS (31), and it nested there in 2010 (32).
Number. Nesting within the boundaries of Moscow in 2009 and 2010. 1 pair was reliably registered. Reproduction of the species based on encounters of pairs in the spring-summer period is assumed in Losiny Ostrov in 1994 (7, 8) and Bitsevsky forest in 2007 (20, 22). During the winter months, from 1 to 4 wasps are recorded within the city in different years.
Habitat Features. Sightings of the common spotted woodpecker in Moscow are usually confined to oak forests with a natural structure of woody vegetation and a large number of tall and dead trees. During the non-breeding period, it was also recorded in other forest biotopes. In the winter months, solitary birds visit feeders in urban forests and forests, sometimes staying near them in biotopes unusual for the species for a long time.
During the period of migration, the average spotted woodpecker sometimes flies into river valleys with developed woody vegetation (29) and even into well-greened residential areas (6). Its nesting on the territory of Moscow was registered in the GBS in a typical biotope for it - an old oak forest (31, 32), which for many decades has been kept in a reserve regime and is preserved in a natural state, without thinning or sanitary felling.
The Ostankino oak grove is located in the middle, long-established part of Moscow and is completely isolated from other forest areas. In Losiny Ostrov, a pair of these woodpeckers during the nesting season stayed in a decaying 200-year-old oak forest with an area of about 10 hectares, which adjoined a vast old linden forest with a significant presence of oak; In the same place, a few years later, during the breeding season, a male pileated woodpecker was encountered (8).
Negative factors. Rarity and sporadic distribution of the species in the Moscow region. Limited area of old-growth oak forests with a natural structure of the tree layer and a significant participation of dead and dead trees or their absence in the urban forests of Moscow.
Carrying out sanitary felling in oak forests, depriving woodpeckers of the opportunity to find faut trees suitable for making hollows and worsening their food supply. Purposeful transformation of old broad-leaved forests into park forest stands with the cutting down of all dead, dead and stunted trees. Mass spring picnics with bonfires in the most attractive forest areas for nesting of the species.
Security measures taken. In 2001, the species was listed in KR 4. Natural areas with forest biotopes suitable for nesting of the pileated woodpecker are located in protected areas - in the Ostankino P-IP, Losiny Ostrov NP, Izmailovo P-IP and Bitsevsky Forest " It is planned to declare a protected oak grove GBS PPr. Since 1991, the oldest and most significant oak forest in the Izmailovsky Forest has the status of PPr. During the audit period, the volume of sanitary felling in Moscow’s urban forests was significantly reduced.
Changing the state of a view. Occurrence of the species within Moscow in 2001-2010. has increased significantly: in different seasons of the year, mainly in winter and early spring, it is registered in 8 territories, whereas in 1960-2000. - only for 4. In 2009, the fact of its nesting in Moscow was first established, and in 2010 it was confirmed. The type CR changes from 4 to 1.
Necessary measures to preserve the species. Preservation of the conservation regime on the site of the old oak grove in the GBS. Isolation of a decaying oak forest in Losiny Ostrov, where the species was recorded twice during the nesting season, in the ZU. Stopping sanitary logging within its boundaries and strengthening control over compliance with the ban on picnics with bonfires.
Elimination of spontaneously arisen picnic points there and restoration of forest vegetation on them. Identification of forest biotopes in protected areas in Moscow that are potentially suitable for nesting of the pileated woodpecker and their registration and special protection. Limiting sanitary felling in oak forests to the removal of emergency trees that pose a danger to vacationers.
Targeted searches for the common spotted woodpecker during the nesting season in Losiny Ostrov, Izmailovsky and Bitsevsky forests, as well as in other forests where fairly large areas are occupied by deciduous forests with a predominance or significant participation of old and middle-aged oaks (Biryulyovsky forest, Teply Stan Fili-Kuntsevsky l-k). Monitoring the species on the territory of the GBS.
Information sources. 1. Red Book of the Russian Federation, 2001. 2. Red Book of the Moscow Region, 2008. 3. . Authors: B.L. Samoilov, G.V. Morozova
