It mainly eats insects and their larvae, which it looks for under tree bark. It also eats hazelnuts and seeds, especially in winter. It often wedges a conifer cone into a crack in a tree and opens it with its beak to get the seeds. Sometimes it also eats other birds’ eggs and chicks.
Great spotted woodpecker
Dendrocopos major
Listen to the voice
Donsky · TbilisiGeorgia field photo
A pied black, white and red woodpecker with large white shoulder patches. Confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident and breeder on the 2024 national bird checklist.
Key facts in one look
- Size
- 22–23 cm
- Diet
- Insects and seeds
- Status in Georgia
- Year-round resident
- Habitat
- Woods, parks, gardens
- Family
- Picidae
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Dendrocopos major is a black-and-white bird with large white patches on its shoulders and red feathers beneath its tail. It nests in Georgia and can be seen there year-round. It can be seen in forests, parks with trees, and gardens. It is not dangerous to people. On this page’s records-by-region table, the regions with enough records are Abkhazia, Adjara, Tbilisi, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Mtskheta–Mtianeti and Samtskhe–Javakheti. Guria, Imereti, Samegrelo–Zemo Svaneti and Shida Kartli have only isolated records and are not treated as part of the range.
Identification
Great spotted woodpecker: how to identify it
It is a black-and-white woodpecker with a large white patch on its shoulder and red feathers beneath its tail. The adult male has a red patch on the back of its head; the female does not. It most closely resembles the Syrian woodpecker.
It is about 22–23 cm long, with a wingspan of 34–39 cm. Its back is black, with large white patches on the shoulders; the wings and sides of the tail have black and white stripes. The belly is white, and the feathers beneath the tail are red. The beak is straight and shaped like a chisel. A black stripe on the cheek connects the base of the beak, the throat and the back of the head.
An adult male has a red patch on the back of its head, while an adult female’s head is entirely black. A young one has red on top of its head, more striped shoulder patches and more pink beneath its tail.
As of 2024, Dendrocopos syriacus lives in Georgia year-round. It most closely resembles the great spotted woodpecker. In Dendrocopos syriacus, the black cheek stripe does not connect to the back of the head, so the white patch on the cheek extends onto the neck. Young great spotted woodpeckers sometimes have an incomplete black stripe, so do not rely on this feature alone to tell the two apart. Adult Dendrocoptes medius also has red on top of its head and lacks a large white patch on the shoulder. Dryobates minor is much smaller and has no red feathers under its tail.
According to 2024 data, Picus viridis lives in Georgia year-round. It is relatively large and olive green, with red on the top of its head. Picus canus also lives in Georgia year-round. It has a gray head and a green back. Dryocopus martius is large and black. Jynx torquilla is small, and its brown coloring helps it blend in. It nests in Georgia and migrates; it is not black and white.
The great spotted woodpecker is a woodpecker that lives in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests. It also occurs in parks and gardens with trees. A study published in 2022 recorded it in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park and the protected areas of Pshav-Khevsureti. In both places, it was recorded more often than any other woodpecker. In the study, it was not tied to any one type of forest, but it avoided areas with sparse vegetation.
Recorded (photo observations)field records
Too few records · 4
The great spotted woodpecker map uses public iNaturalist photo observations in Georgia. Regions come from the records-by-region table: only regions with enough records are shaded on the map; other regions are not shaded. Record counts reflect observation effort, not population density.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
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- Field observation
- Several records in one spot
- Photo record
- Region with records
It is active during the day, and its sharp “kik” or “chik” call is often heard before the bird is seen. In spring, it drums rapidly on a tree to mark its territory and attract a mate. As it flies, it rises and dips. It nests in a hollow it excavates in a tree. Do not touch the bird.
A global assessment finds that this species has a low risk of extinction. It has the same assessment in Georgia’s 2024 bird list. It is not included in Georgia’s 2014 Red List. Old and dead trees help it find food and make hollows. Do not catch wild birds.
Donsky · Tbilisi
Donsky · Mtskheta
Donsky · Tbilisi
Charles J. Sharp · Drenthe
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Great spotted woodpecker.
Yes. As of 2024, this bird is confirmed to nest in Georgia and to be present there year-round. The evidence includes photographs, sound recordings and records of ringed birds.
This species is found in forests and in parks and gardens with trees. A 2022 survey recorded it in Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park and the Pshav-Khevsureti Protected Areas; both sites lie in regions the map shades as having records. An isolated record in another region does not mean the species is distributed across that whole region.
This woodpecker is black and white, with a large white patch on its shoulder and red feathers under its tail. The male has a red patch on the back of its head; the female does not. Young birds have red on top of their heads. In the Syrian woodpecker, the black cheek stripe does not connect to the back of the head. Even so, this feature alone makes it hard to tell it apart from a young great spotted woodpecker.
It is about 22–23 cm long, with a wingspan of 34–39 cm.
It mainly eats insects and their larvae. In winter, it also takes seeds from conifer cones and eats them.
According to the 2024 list, it is found there year-round, not just during migration or in winter.
Yes. As of 2024, this species nests in Georgia and lives here year-round.
It is harmless. It is considered to face little threat worldwide and in the 2024 national list. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. Do not catch wild birds.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
