European middle woodpecker short description. Middle spotted woodpecker. Description of the spotted woodpecker

Woodpecker (children's song) I'm a woodpecker, woodpecker, woodpecker. I knock: knock-knock-knock. I am a friend of the insects, the first friend of the bugs. I'm a woodpecker, woodpecker, woodpecker. I live in a pine tree. I dream of a house when I snore in my sleep. I'm a woodpecker, woodpecker, woodpecker. I work all day. Pound your head on a tree I'm cool and not

General characteristics and field signs

A typical woodpecker of medium size (length 20-22 cm), somewhat smaller than the great spotted woodpecker. In general, it is similar to the latter species, especially with its underyearlings, as well as the middle spotted woodpecker, which has 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, moreover, the bird often ruffles, a yellow tint on the light parts of the plumage of the chest and the front of the belly, a wide brownish-dirty-white stripe on the forehead and anterior part of vertex, pink lower part of belly, distinct and abundant black streaks on sides of body, less development of white on shoulder patches and wing coverts, discontinuity of two black stripes on white extreme helmsmen and their frequent orientation not across, but along rachis. It differs from the white-backed woodpecker by its smaller size, the yellow color of the front of the belly, the absence of white on the back of the back; from the small spotted woodpecker - much larger, with a yellow tint on the front of the belly.

Young birds are more dull in color than adults; the stripe on the forehead and anterior part of the crown is noticeably wider.

A very mobile bird. The trill “kick-kick-kirrikikik”, the “kick” cry is softer and quieter than that of the great spotted woodpecker; individual beats are clearly audible in the drum roll, and in duration it is similar to the shot of a great spotted woodpecker. The chiselling is weaker and less sharp.

Description

Coloring. Adult male. The forehead and anterior part of the vertex are off-white with a brownish tinge. The top of the head is bright red. The sides of the head (“cheeks”), the superciliary strip that separates the red cap from the eyes, the lower part of the head are white. The lower part of the head (chin section, 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 the upper part of the body are black. On the sides of the neck along a large white spot, connecting with a dirty white chest, which has a yellowish coating. Belly in the upper part with a well-defined yellow tint, changing to pink in the lower part of the belly. The undertail and the very bottom of the belly are pink-red, in D. m. caucasicus brick-red undertail. The sides of the body are whitish-pink with dark, sometimes indistinct streaks on the trunk. The primaries are black with white spots on the inner and outer webs, but on the inner webs they barely reach the middle of them. Often (especially in young birds, but also in most adults) there are white spots on both webs of the endings of the primaries. Secondaries are painted in a similar way. The upper wing coverts are white, the shoulder feathers are white with a dark base, and the under 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 smaller size and somewhat 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 tinge at the base of the mandible. Legs are dark grey. The iris is reddish brown or pale red. There are no seasonal color changes.

Hatched chicks are naked, devoid of embryonic fluff, with pink skin. In chicks that have just opened their eyes, the iris is brownish.

Young birds differ from adults in a duller plumage color, a wider frontal stripe and sharper streaks on the sides of the body. The fledglings at the moment of departure from the hollow have a red-brown iris.

Structure and dimensions

The sizes of the average spotted woodpecker are shown in the table. 29 (col. ZM Moscow State University and Moscow State Pedagogical University).

Moult

Poorly studied. In general, it is similar to the molt of the great spotted woodpecker. In adult birds, the complete post-breeding molt begins, obviously, in June - early July, with primary primaries in the distal direction; ends in September-October. In four collection specimens from the end of June, VII, the primary primaries have already changed or its growth has taken place, on July 15, V and VI are shorter than normal length, in a specimen from August 25, the IV primary has not yet fully formed. By the end of August all flywheels are fresh. The change of helmsmen is noted from the end of June to the middle of August; the birds turned out to be completely molted in early October (Gladkov, 1951; Cramp, 1985).

In Belorussia, on July 1 adult males changed VIII-IX primaries, on August 7 they changed to VI-VII, on September 21 - II-III primaries (the second had a length of 61 mm). All other flywheels were already fresh. In the female on July 24, the V primordium was 1/3 of the length, the 2nd and 3rd pairs of tail feathers were still in tubules. In individuals from October 4, the growth of contour feathers on the chest and back has not yet ended (Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967).

The post-juvenile molting of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker, unlike the Great Spotted Woodpecker, begins at the time of departure, 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 primaries in young birds is on average 12 days longer than in adults (Cramp, 1985). In Belarus, in young birds on June 10, VI-VII primaries changed, on July 14 - VI, III primaries, as well as the 4th pair of helmsmen. In October, the molt ends (Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967).

Subspecies taxonomy

Underdeveloped. Different authors distinguish from 3 to 7 subspecies (Gladkov, 1951; Vaurie, 1965; Stepanyan, 1990; Howard and 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 give 4 subspecies. The forms splendidior (south of the 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 color on the underside of the body, the intensity of development of dark spots on the chest and sides of the body, the details of the tail pattern, and also in size. There is significant individual variability in birds.

There are 2 subspecies on the territory of the former USSR (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 coloration on the lower part of the chest and upper part of the abdomen is neither saturated nor bright. Red coloration of the underbelly and undertail of a light pink shade. Dark spots on the sides of the body are light brown and less developed. The white field on the shoulders is more extensive.

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 coloration of the chest and upper abdomen is brighter, golden yellow. Red underbelly and undertail more red, less pinkish. Dark spots on the sides of the abdomen are more developed and have a brownish-black or black color. The white field 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 middle 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. Lives in Turkey and western Iran to Zagros and Fars and south to northern Iraq (Stepanyan, 1975, 1990; Cramp, 1985) (Fig. 87).

Figure 87
a - breeding area. Subspecies: 1 - D. m. medius, 2 - D. m. caucasicus, 3 - D. m. anatoliae, 4 - D. m. sanctijohannis.

On 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 about 58 ° N, Moldova, Ukraine (with the exception of its southern steppe part and Crimea), Bryansk, Kursk, Belgorod, Oryol, Lipetsk, 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 Smolensk, south of the Kaluga and Tula regions, where it turned further 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 Bobrov 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 from the north skirted the steppes of southern Ukraine and Crimea (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 - individual cases of nesting outside the area, d - vagrants. Subspecies: 1 - D. m. medius, 2 - D. m. caucasicus.

However, since the mid-1980s - early 1990s. a noticeable expansion of the range of the species began in the northern and eastern directions. In Latvia, this was noted in the early 1980s, when the middle woodpecker began to nest regularly in the country (Celmins, 1985). By the beginning of the 1990s. the species inhabited the whole of Latvia, including the islands of the Gulf of Riga, where it appeared for nesting in 1992; nested in the forests of Vilkene and Kemeri in 1993 (Bergmanis and Strazds, 1993). In autumn 1980, the middle woodpecker was encountered in Pechory (Bardin, 2001). In Estonia, the first record of the species was in October 1990 south of Pärnu (Leivits, 1994), and in 2000 a nest was found in the park of Räpina, located 30 km northwest of Pechora (Kinks, Elteraiaa, 2000 , cited in: Bardeen, 2001).

At present, in Belarus, the middle 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 by D. E. Te). In the neighboring Bryansk region, the species breeds in the northwest in the Kletnyansky forest and in the south in the Desnyansky Polesie (Kosenko, 1996, 2000; Kosenko et al. 1998, 2000). In 1994, the middle woodpecker was found in the south of the Kaluga region, in the Kaluzhskie Zaseki nature reserve; by 2002, 20–40 pairs lived here (Kostin, 1998; Egorova and Kostin, 2000; Kosenko et al. 20006). In the Tula region, the species occurs in the forests of the north-west and the center of the region; nesting was recorded 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. Prior to this, only three occurrences of the species were known within the region, which, however, were questioned (Ptushenko and Inozemtsev, 1968). Since 1981, solitary birds mainly during the non-breeding season, and, less often, pairs in the spring-summer period, have been observed in different parts of the region, as well as in Moscow forest parks and the Main Botanical Garden. To date, more than 10 occurrences of the species are known (Avilova et al. 1998; Fridman, 1998; Arkhipov, Kalyakin, 2003; data by X. Groot Kurkamp, ​​V.A. Zubakin, Ya.A. Redkin, 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 the Ryazan Region, the species breeds in the Rybnovsky District and in the Oksky Reserve (Ivanchev, in press; data from V. S. Fridman).

To the south, the middle 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, for the first time, it was found nesting in the west of the Saratov region. Breeds in valleys of Khopra and Medveditsa in Volgograd Region, where it has spread up to the Volga Upland. Now 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 east (Khrustov et al. 1995; Zavyalov and Lobanov, 1996; Zavyalov and Tabachishin, 2000). From the Volgograd region, the southern border of the range turns west-southwest to the middle course of the river. Don in the Rostov region (Sholokhov district), where the species entered 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.

The flights were recorded in July 1988 and February 1989 in the city of Ples, Ivanovo region (Gerasimov et al. 2000) and in the Sverdlovsk region (place and date not specified; Ryabitsev et al. 2001). There is information about, probably, isolated nesting in the early 1950s. in the Buzuluk pine forest of the Orenburg region (Darshkevich, 1953; cited after Davygora, 2000), but there is no contemporary evidence of the presence of the species here.

The Caucasian part of the species range, inhabited by the race D. m. caucasicus is more stable. The species inhabits the Greater Caucasus in the north to its foothills 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 high mountains, 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 parts of its range in Europe, it makes extended autumn-winter migrations (Cramp, 1985). In Russia, in the north and east of the range, post-breeding migrations are apparently more regular, but their length and frequency have not been studied. It is probable that the majority of nomadic birds are young birds. In Transcarpathia, in autumn it rises up the river valleys, without reaching the belt of coniferous forests (Strautman, 1963). The expansion of the range, accompanied by the settlement of new, remote and isolated areas of forests, also indicates extensive spatial movements of a part of the population of the species.

In the northwestern Caucasus, it penetrates into the belt of coniferous forests in winter, regularly from February to the end of March it occurs in parks and forests near the settlements of the Black Sea coast in the vicinity of Sochi (Tilba, 1986).

habitat

The middle spotted woodpecker inhabits broad-leaved and coniferous-broad-leaved forests, old abandoned gardens and parks, forest edges, old sparse forests with drying and dead trees. Prefers forests of plains, river valleys, foothills and low mountains. At the same time, in the FRG (environment of 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 middle spotted woodpecker nests not only in broad-leaved forests, but also in old apple and pear orchards (Hochebner, 1993). Single nestings in orchards during normal wintering were also noted in Moldova (Tsibulyak, 1994, 1996). In the Western Caucasus, it inhabits mainly low and middle mountains, but can penetrate to the upper borders 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 was also caught at an altitude of 2300 m (Zhordaniya, 1962).

In Europe, the species is very closely related to upland oak forests; the remaining biotopes are almost non-existent, except for marshy mature alder forests in the north and northeast of the range (Wesolowski and Tomialojc, 1986). Hornbeam and beech forests, common companions of the Central European broad-leaved forest, are avoided by birds if the hornbeam or beech is not “diluted” with oak. The species prefers mature oak forests, avoiding both young and overmature forests (Ruge, 1971а; Conrads, 1975; Jenni, 1977; Muller, 1982; Mityai, 1984,1985; Sennet and Horisberger, 1988; Belik, 1990; Gunter, 1992; Hochebner, 1993; Tsibulyak, 1994, 1996; Glavan, 1996; Fridman, 1996). In the Desnyansky Polissya, during the nesting period, the middle spotted woodpecker is confined to oak and ash forests in the floodplains and coniferous and broad-leaved forests in the interfluves. It can be both closed stands and pasture-type forests with meadow glades, clearings, and small reservoirs. The smallest age of populated oak forests is 60 years. In the southeast of the nesting range of D. m. medius lives mainly in floodplain deciduous forests, including heavily littered near-river forests of willow and black willow, where there is a lot of dead wood and rotten wood (Belik, 1990; Zavyalov and Tabachishin, 2000). Similar habitats - old poplar forests with a large number of old rotten trees - inhabit (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. Butiev).

population

Not studied enough. The total population of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker in Europe without Russia is 53,000-97,000 breeding pairs (Hagemeijer and Blair, 1997). The number of the 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 and Strazds, 1993). In Belarus, the total estimated population of the middle woodpecker at the end of the 20th century was 5,000-9,000 pairs (Nikiforov et al., 1997). In broad-leaved forests of Polissya, the species is common and rarer in pine-oak and alder forests (Fedyushin and Dolbik, 1967). In Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the density in the most favorable habitat zones reaches 1 pair per 10 ha (Wesolowski, Tomialojc, 1986). 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 Reserve, in the linden-ash oak grove of sessile oak, the population density of the species is 17.2 ind./km2, in the beech oak grove of pedunculate oak - 11.6 ind./km2; in early spring, the population density drops to 9.6 and 6.4 individuals/km2, respectively, and the nesting density in the linden-ash oak forest reaches 4.6 individuals/km2. In autumn, in the linden-ash oak forest, the number increases again to 11.2 individuals/km2, and in the beech oak forest it drops to 5.9 individuals/km2 (Glavan, 1996).

Throughout the western regions of Ukraine, this species was not numerous and sporadically distributed (Strautman, 1963). In Central Ukraine, in the Dnieper forest-steppe, the middle spotted woodpecker inhabits oak forests with a density of 4–6 individuals/km2, pine-broad-leaved forests - 1.6-2 individuals/km2, ravine 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 upland oak forests of the Tellerman forestry (Belgorod region), he nested at 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 Polissya, the abundance of the species turned out to be quite high. Depending on the degree of fragmentation of the main habitats, the population density of the middle woodpecker here was: in large tracts of oak and ash forests - 1.05-1.36, on average 1.21 pairs / 10 ha, in fragments of coniferous-broad-leaved forest - respectively, 0 ,16-0.24 and 0.20 pairs/10 ha. Outside the breeding season, 2.8 specimens/10 km of the route were recorded in the coniferous-broad-leaved forest, 0.5 in the oak-ash forest; in small forests - 0.2 individuals / 10 km of the route. In general, on the territory of the Nerusso-Desnyansky Polissya and in the Kletnyansky forest, the estimated number of the middle spotted woodpecker is estimated at 600-850 pairs (Kosenko, Kaigorodova, 1998; 2002; 2003). In the Kursk region, the number is established for several forests: in the Banishchansky forest on an area of ​​about 4 thousand hectares - 300 pairs, in the Petrin (536 ha) and Cossack (512 ha) forests 36 and 40 pairs live (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 outside the floodplains, it decreases to 0.3 individuals / km2 (Zavyalov, Tabachishin, 2000) . In the Rostov region, the total number of this woodpecker does not exceed 100 pairs; in the late 1990s its numbers in the Middle Don increased markedly. In the Kletsky district of the Volgograd region in floodplain forests, the middle spotted woodpecker is not inferior in number to the lesser spotted woodpecker and continues to intensively settle along the Don River valley (Belik, 2000; 2002).

In the northwestern Caucasus, in the chestnut forests of the Caucasian 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 the floodplain alder forests of the river. Shahe in some areas, it reached 13 individuals / km2 (data from V. T. Butiev). 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 Gekgel in Azerbaijan, at the upper border of the deciduous forest, the middle 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 settlements in winter, its density reached 2 individuals/km2.

In Southern Dagestan, the seasonal dynamics of the abundance of the species in broad-leaved liana forests of the lower reaches of the river was studied. Samur. In poplar forests, the population is low in winter and spring - 0.3 and 1.7 ind./km2, in summer it is higher - 8.3 ind./km2, and slightly decreases by autumn - 4.5 ind./km2. In oak-poplar forests, the number varies seasonally 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 and hornbeam forests, the number also varies 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 occurs only in winter and spring - 2.3 and 0.2 individuals/km2. During non-breeding time, single individuals were found in reed beds, garden plots, steppe landscape with shrubs and acacia plantations (data from V. T. Butiev and E. A. Lebedeva).

reproduction

Daily activity, behavior

Typically a diurnal bird, the details of diurnal activity are poorly understood. In the oak forest "Forest on Vorskla" wakes up at 7:48 in winter, falls asleep at 16:25. In May-June, he wakes up at about 3:40 a.m., falling asleep at 7:53 p.m. (Novikov, 1959); like all hollow 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 middle spotted woodpecker, common nuthatch and common tit were observed, as well as associations of this species with the great spotted woodpecker, common nuthatch and common pika (Novikov, 1959). However, according to other authors (Cramp, 1985; Torok, 1986, 1988), the Middle Spotted Woodpecker avoids feeding with Great Spotted and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers due to competition between them.

Nutrition

The middle spotted woodpecker is characterized by feeding on animal feed. In the forest-steppe oak forests of the Belgorod region in summer, it mainly eats 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 feeding 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 (family Cerambycidae and Curculionidae - 9.1% , Scarabaeidae - 18.2%) (Novikov, 1969). 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 (Korol'kova, 1963; Novikov, 1969). In Desnyansky Polissya, caterpillars of feathered corydalis, May beetles, remains of ground beetles, ants and bedbugs were found in the stomachs of dead chicks (Kosenko, Kaigorodova, 2003). In the stomach of a bird caught in April in the Moscow region, there were many remains of beetles: leaf beetles Phratora laticolla, ground beetles Agonum assimila and Dromius gagroticcolis, elephants Polidrusus cervinus, and ants Formica exsecta aF.polictesa. There was also a lot of wood dust in the stomach (Redkin, 1998).

In winter, in the oak forests of the Belgorod region, woodpeckers feed on the following types of food (2 stomachs were studied): adult Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (Formicidae) - 1,826 specimens; ants of the genera Formica, Lasius, Myrmica - 36 specimens each; larvae of borers (Buprestidae) - 34 ind. The remains of acorns were found in one stomach (Novikov, 1969). According to G. E. Korolkova (1963), the proportion of plant foods and bedbugs in the diet increases in winter, while Muravyov decreases.

Middle spotted woodpeckers feed chicks with animal feed. In the oak forests of the Voronezh region, they brought to the nest mainly caterpillars of this family. Geometridae (up to 40% of sightings and 450 specimens per day) and Agrostidae (Calimnia sp. - 16% of sightings, Amphipiraperflna - 29%), less often gypsy moth - 10%. Spiders, leafworm caterpillars, and larvae of xylophagous beetles were found only occasionally in the feed of nestlings (Korol'kova, 1963). With an outbreak in the number of gypsy moth or scoop, woodpeckers completely switch to feeding on these caterpillars (Korol'kova, 1963).

Of all the species of the genus Dendrocopos, in terms of its morphology (the structure of the skull, the muscles of the neck and tongue, the development of the salivary glands, the structure of the horny tip of the tongue), the middle spotted woodpecker is the worst suited for real chiselling, but is highly specialized for picking up and pecking in motion (Poznanin, 1949; Blume, 1968). Birds gather food on the surface of trunks of branches and leaves; often hung on thin branches, like tits, and only food collected from the surface is brought to the chicks (Feindt and Reblin, 1959). However, the woodpecker can gouge nuts, seeds, and terrestrial mollusks in cracks in the bark and in specially hollowed out depressions; each such "forge" is used 3-4 times (Cramp, 1985; data by V. S. Fridman).

The predominant methods of collecting food from the middle spotted woodpecker are inclined chiselling, which requires less force to strike, picking out, pecking. The passage of the substrate through the beak (removal) is extremely poorly developed in this species. The general foraging strategy is to quickly inspect thick oak branches on the move and chisel with oblique blows or pick out food. The species does not miss a single source of food, but underutilizes its medium and abundant sources. For gathering food, it prefers thick branches of the upper part of the crown of living or drying pedunculate or sessile oaks. The woodpecker ignores other types of oaks, using them no more often than, for example, a hornbeam. Most of all, he 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; Cibulyak, 1994 ; Friedman, 1996).

The middle woodpecker has been recorded ringing trees and drinking birch and maple sap (especially sycamore Acer platanoides) (Serez, 1983; Cramp, 1985; Kosenko and Kaigorodova, 2003). In winter, it can visit feeders (Zubakin, 2004).

Enemies, adverse factors

Not studied enough. In Western Europe, due to the change in the nature of forestry, in which dead and old trees are quickly selected, there is a decrease in the number and range of the species; The middle spotted woodpecker of all woodpeckers suffers the most during the intensification of forestry (Angelstam and Mikusinski, 1994). For the species, the fragmentation of oak forests is also detrimental, especially when combined with their rejuvenation (Petersson, 1984; Kosenko and Kaigorodova, 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 was found from low winter temperatures (below −20°C) and bad weather during the period of nestling rearing (Kosenko and Kaigorodova, 2003). The enemies may be hawks, martens, possibly dormice, which can destroy clutches and small chicks. In Desnyansky Polissya, cases of colonization of hollows of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker under construction by the Great Spotted Woodpecker were observed, which led to a shift in the timing of the reproduction of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker to later ones (Kosenko and Kaigorodova, 2003).

Economic importance, protection

It has a regulatory effect on many agricultural pests 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 the Russian Federation, but 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.

The great spotted woodpecker, or spotted woodpecker (lat. Dendrosoros major) is a rather large bird belonging to the most famous representatives of the Woodpecker family and the genus Spotted woodpeckers from the Woodpecker order.

Description of the spotted woodpecker

A distinctive feature of the spotted woodpecker is its coloration.. Young birds, regardless of gender, have a very characteristic "red cap" in the parietal region. There are fourteen subspecies of the Great Spotted Woodpecker:

• D.m. Major;
• D.m. Brevirostris;
• D.m. Kamtschaticus;
• D.m. Pinetorum;
• D.m. Hispanus;
• D.m. harterti arrigoni;
• D.m. Canariensis;
• D.m. thanneri le Roi;
• D.m. Mauritanus;
• D.m. Numidus;
• D.m. Roelzami;
• D.m. Japonicus;
• D.m. Sabanisi;
• D.m. Stresemanni.

In general, the subspecies taxonomy of the great spotted woodpecker has not yet been developed well enough, therefore, different authors distinguish from fourteen to twenty-six geographical races.

Appearance

The size of the spotted woodpecker resembles a thrush. The length of an adult bird of this species varies within 22-27 cm, with a wingspan of 42-47 cm and a weight of 60-100 g. The color of the bird is characterized by a predominance of white and black colors, which go well with bright red or pinkish coloring of the undertail. All subspecies have a variegated appearance. The upper part of the head, as well as the back and tail area have black plumage with a bluish sheen.

The frontal region, cheeks, belly and shoulders are brownish-white in color.. In the area of ​​the shoulders there are rather large fields of white color with a black dorsal stripe between them. The flight feathers are black, with wide white spots, due to which five light transverse stripes form on the folded wings. The tail is black, except for a pair of extreme white tail feathers. The iris of the bird is brown or red, and the beak has a noticeable lead-black color. At the base of the beak, a pronounced black stripe begins, which stretches to the side of the neck and neck. A black stripe borders a white cheek.

Males differ from females in the presence of a red transverse stripe on the back of the head. Juveniles are characterized by a red crown with red-black longitudinal strokes. Otherwise, young woodpeckers do not have significant differences in plumage color. The tail is medium in length, pointed and very stiff. Woodpeckers fly very well and fast enough, but in most cases they prefer climbing tree trunks. Spotted woodpeckers use their wings only to fly from one plant to another.

Lifestyle and behavior

Great spotted woodpeckers are conspicuous and quite noisy birds, often inhabiting areas near human habitation. Most often, such birds lead a solitary lifestyle, and the mass accumulation of woodpeckers is typical for the invasion of the nominative subspecies. Sedentary adults have an individual feeding area. The size of the forage area can vary from two to twenty hectares, which depends on the typical features of the forest zone and the number of conifers.

It is interesting! Before entering into a fight with a stranger in its own feeding area, the owner takes the so-called confrontation posture, in which the bird's beak opens slightly, and the plumage on the head acquires a disheveled appearance.

Same-sex individuals during the period of active reproduction can fly into neighboring areas, which is accompanied by conflicts between birds. The appearance of strangers provokes fights, in which birds strike each other with tangible blows with their beaks and wings. The approach of people does not always frighten off the woodpecker, so the bird can simply climb up the stem part closer to the top or fly to a higher branch.

How long do spotted woodpeckers live

According to official data and observations, the average life expectancy of great spotted woodpeckers in the wild does not exceed ten years. The maximum known lifespan for a woodpecker was twelve years and eight months.

Range, habitats

The area of ​​distribution of the spotted woodpecker covers a significant part of the Palearctic. Birds of this species are found in Africa, Europe, the southern part of the Balkans and in Asia Minor, as well as on the islands of the Mediterranean and Scandinavia. A large population lives on Sakhalin, the southern Kuril and Japanese islands.

The spotted woodpecker belongs to the category of extremely flexible species, therefore it can easily adapt to any type of biotope with trees, including small wooded islands, gardens and parks. The density of bird settlement varies:

• on the territory of North Africa, the bird prefers olive and poplar groves, cedar forests, pine forests, broad-leaved and mixed forests with the presence of cork oak;
• in Poland, it most often inhabits alder-ash and oak-hornbeam groves, parks and forested areas with a large number of old trees;
• in the northwestern part of our country, the spotted woodpecker is numerous in various forest zones, including dry forests, swampy spruce forests, dark coniferous, mixed and broad-leaved forests;
• on the territory of the Urals and in Siberia, preference is given to mixed forests and conifers with a predominance of pine;
• on the territory of the Far East, birds of this species prefer foothill and mountain broad-leaved and cedar-broad-leaved forests;
• In Japan, spotted woodpeckers inhabit deciduous, coniferous, and mixed forests.

It is interesting! As long-term observations show, young birds are the most prone to movement, and old woodpeckers rarely leave their settled nesting areas.

The total number of spotted woodpeckers within the biotope can be reduced by several times, and the process of population recovery takes several years.

The diet of great spotted woodpeckers

The food base of the spotted woodpecker is very diverse, and the bias towards the predominance of food of plant or animal origin directly depends on the season.

Males and females feed on different types of territories. In the spring-summer period, various insects are eaten by motley woodpeckers in very large numbers, as well as their larvae, represented by:

• barbeled;
• goldfish;
• bark beetles;
• stags;
• leaf beetles;
• ladybugs;
• weevils;
• ground beetles;
• caterpillars;
• butterfly imago;
• horntails;
• aphids;
• coccids;
• ants.

Occasionally woodpeckers eat crustaceans and molluscs. With the onset of late autumn, birds of this species can be found near human habitations, where birds eat food in feeders or, in some cases, feed on carrion. Woodpeckers are also noted to destroy nests of songbirds, including pied flycatchers, common redstarts, tits and warblers.

Food is obtained from the trunk of trees and from the surface of the soil.. When insects are found, the bird destroys the bark with strong blows of the beak or easily makes a deep funnel, after which the prey is extracted with the tongue. Representatives of the Dyatlov family hollow, as a rule, only the wood of diseased and dried trees affected by pests. In the spring, birds feed on terrestrial insects, destroying anthills, and also use fallen fruits or carrion for food.

In the autumn-winter period, the woodpecker's diet is dominated by plant foods rich in proteins, including seeds of various conifers, acorns and nuts. For a bird of this species, a characteristic way of obtaining nutritious seeds from pine and spruce cones is the use of a kind of "forge". A woodpecker breaks a cone from a branch, after which it is carried in its beak and clamped inside a pre-prepared anvil niche, which is used as natural cracks or self-hollowed holes in the upper stem part. Then the bird inflicts a strong blow with its beak on the cone, and then the scales are plucked off and the seeds are removed.

It is interesting! In the early spring, when the number of insects is extremely limited, and the edible seeds are completely over, woodpeckers make their way through the bark on deciduous trees and drink the juice.

On the territory occupied by one spotted woodpecker, a little more than fifty such special "anvils" can be located, but most often no more than four of them are used by the bird. By the end of the winter period, as a rule, a whole mountain of broken cones and scales accumulates under a tree.

Birds also eat seeds and nuts of plants such as hazel, beech and oak, hornbeam and almonds. If necessary, spotted woodpeckers feed on tender aspen bark and pine buds, gooseberry and currant pulp, cherry and plum, juniper and raspberry, buckthorn and ash.

Southwest of the European part of Russia (1). In the Ryazan region, it is located near the northern border of the range. For the first time on the territory of the region, the middle spotted woodpecker was found in 2002 in the eastern part of the Oksky Reserve (2). To date, it has settled quite widely in this part of the reserve. The total abundance of the species in the Oksky Reserve, apparently, is more than 50 pairs. It may also live in other areas of the region, where, however, it has not yet been found.

Habitats and biology

The Middle Spotted Woodpecker prefers broad-leaved forests; in the Oksky Reserve, nesting is noted in the floodplain oak forest. During non-breeding time, it roams and can be found in mixed pine-deciduous forests, pine plantations, alder forests and other types of forest. Nests are arranged in hollows, at a height of 6-10 m, as a rule, in dry or rotted trunks and their fragments. It starts nesting relatively early: in early-mid April. Monogamous. The gouging of the hollow, incubation and feeding of the chicks are carried out by both partners. Eggs are laid on wood chips specially extracted by birds from the walls of the hollow. Clutch contains 6-9 white eggs. The chicks hatch in early to mid-May. Adult birds feed them mainly on caterpillars of moths and leafworms, as well as spiders and beetle larvae. Nestlings leave hollows at the age of 21-23 days (1-3).

Limiting factors and threats

It is not entirely clear, perhaps, that the marginal position of the region and the cutting down of old-growth broad-leaved forests are of significant importance. In general, the last decade is characterized by an increase in the number and distribution of the species.

Protective measures taken and necessary

The species is included in Appendix II of the Berne Convention. The habitats of the species are protected in the Oksky Reserve. It is necessary to organize the nature monuments "Upper Sheikino" and "Urochishe Korchazhnoye", located on the territory of the buffer zone of the Oksky Reserve and being the habitat of this and other rare species. The middle spotted woodpecker was first listed in the Red Book of the Ryazan region.

Dendrocopos medius (Linnaeus, 1758)
Squad Woodpeckers - Piciformes
Dyatlov family - Picidae

Spreading. In the Moscow region - a rare species on the border of the range (2), nesting has been known since 1986 (3). Within the boundaries of Moscow, it was first encountered in 1979 - in the Ostankino oak forest (4, 5). In the 1980s-1990s. in the non-breeding period recorded in the Zyablikovskiy and Biryulevsky l-kah (5), as well as in the Medvedkovo region (6), in the nesting season - twice in Losiny Ostrov (7, 8), and also in the Teplostansky l-ke (9) .

During the revision period, it was registered in Losiny Ostrov in 2008 (8) and 2009 (10), Izmailovsky Forest in 2003-2009. (11-17), Tsaritsyno Park in 2009 (18), Sev. Butovsky l-ke in 2007 and 2008 (19), different parts of the Bitsevsky forest in 2007-2009. (20-24), Narrow in 2008 (25), Fili-Kuntsevsky l-ke in 2005 and 2006 (25-28), Tushinskaya Bowl in 2009 (29), GBS in 2003-2005 and 2009 (thirty). In 2009, for the first time in Moscow, the nesting of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker (31) was established on the territory of the GBS, and it also nested there in 2010 (32).

population. On nesting within the boundaries of Moscow in 2009 and 2010. 1 pair was authentically registered. Reproduction of the species based on encounters of pairs in the spring-summer period is expected in Losiny Ostrov in 1994 (7, 8) and in Bitsevsky Forest in 2007 (20, 22). In the winter months, in the city, in different years, from 1 to 4 wasps are noted.

Habitat Features. Encounters of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker on the territory of Moscow are, as a rule, confined to oak forests with a natural structure of woody vegetation and a large number of faut and dead trees. In the non-breeding period, it was also noted in other forest biotopes. In the winter months, solitary birds visit feeders in urban forests and villages, sometimes lingering near them in unusual biotopes for a long time.

During the roaming period, the Middle Spotted Woodpecker sometimes flies into river valleys with developed tree vegetation (29) and even into well-landscaped residential areas (6). Its nesting on the territory of Moscow was registered in the GBS in its typical biotope - an old oak forest (31, 32), which has been kept in a protected regime for many decades and is preserved in its natural state, without thinning and sanitary felling.

The Ostankino oak forest is located in the middle, long-established part of Moscow and is completely isolated from other forests. In Losiny Ostrov, a pair of these woodpeckers during the nesting season kept in a decaying 200-year-old oak forest with an area of ​​​​about 10 hectares, which adjoined an extensive high-aged linden forest with a significant participation of oak; in the same place, a few years later, during the breeding season, a male of the middle spotted 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 faut trees or their absence in the urban forests of Moscow.

Carrying out sanitary cuttings in oak forests, depriving woodpeckers of the opportunity to find faut trees suitable for hollowing and worsening their food supply. Purposeful transformation of high-aged broad-leaved forests into park stands with cutting down of all dead, faut and stunted trees. Mass spring picnics with bonfires in the most attractive areas of the forest for nesting species.

Conservation Measures Taken. In 2001, the species was listed in CD 4. Natural areas with forest biotopes suitable for nesting of the middle spotted woodpecker are located in protected areas - in the P-IP "Ostankino", NP "Losiny Ostrov", P-IP "Izmailovo" and "Bitsevsky Forest" ". The announcement of the protected oak forest GBS PPr is planned. Since 1991, the oldest and most significant oak forest in the Izmailovsky forest has the status of a protected area. During the revision period, the volume of sanitary cuttings in the urban forests of Moscow was significantly reduced.

Change the state of a view. The occurrence of the species within the boundaries of Moscow in 2001-2010. increased significantly: in different seasons of the year, mainly in winter and early spring, it was registered in 8 territories, while in 1960-2000. - only for 4. In 2009, for the first time, the fact of its nesting in Moscow was established, in 2010 it was confirmed. View CR changes from 4 to 1.

Necessary conservation measures. Preservation of the protected regime on the site of the old oak forest in the GBS. Isolation of a decaying oak forest in Losiny Ostrov, where the species was recorded twice during the nesting season, in memory. Termination of sanitary cuttings within its boundaries and strengthening of control over compliance with the ban on picnics with fires.

Elimination of spontaneously arisen picnic spots there with the restoration of forest vegetation on them. Identification of forest biotopes in the protected areas of Moscow that are potentially suitable for nesting of the middle spotted woodpecker and their registration and special protection. Restriction of sanitary cuttings in oak forests by removal of emergency trees that pose a danger to vacationers.

Purposeful searches for the middle 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 Forest and Fili-Kuntsevsky l-to). Monitoring of 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