---
title: "Great Spotted Woodpecker"
description: "Dendrocopos major — Birds. The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/great-spotted-woodpecker
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Great Spotted Woodpecker

> Dendrocopos major — Birds. The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly.

- Scientific name: *Dendrocopos major*
- Category: `birds` (Birds)
- Habitats: `forest` (Forest), `urban` (Towns & gardens)
- iNaturalist observations: 153502
- Wikidata: [Q26209](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26209)
- iNaturalist taxon: [17871](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/17871)

## Names

- en: Great Spotted Woodpecker
- de: Buntspecht
- es: Pico picapinos
- fr: Pic épeiche
- nl: Grote bonte specht
- pt: Pica-pau-malhado-grande
- pl: Dzięcioł duży

## Countries with the most observations

RU (60850), DE (16480), GB (8779), FR (5323), AT (5236), IT (4539), ES (3302), FI (3269), CZ (3191), PL (2646), UA (2435), NL (2262)

## Summary

The great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found across the Palearctic including parts of North Africa. Across most of its range it is resident, but in the north some will migrate if the conifer cone crop fails. Some individuals have a tendency to wander, leading to the recolonisation of Ireland in the first decade of the 21st century  and to vagrancy to North America. Great spotted woodpeckers chisel into trees to find food or excavate…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_spotted_woodpecker

## Photo

![Great Spotted Woodpecker](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/great-spotted-woodpecker/medium.jpg)

Photo: Francesco Cecere · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/2633975

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/great-spotted-woodpecker?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).