Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor) - BirdLife species factsheet

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dryobates minor

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
Dryobates minor (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) was previously placed in the genus Dendrocopos.

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2014	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	39,300,000 km²
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	2100000-4799999 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2012
Population trend	decreasing	-	inferred	-
Generation length	5.2 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The European population is estimated at 491,000-1,050,000 pairs, which equates to 983,000-2,110,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). Europe forms c.45% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 2,180,000-4,700,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed.

Trend justification:

In Europe, the population trend between 1980 and 2013 is uncertain (EBCC 2015). The short-term population trend (2000-2012) in Europe is estimated to be stable (BirdLife International 2015). Loss of deciduous habitats, especially riverine forest and old orchards is thought to have contributed to local declines in Europe (Winkler and Christie 2002). The species is, overall, tentatively assessed as being in decline due to habitat loss (Tracewski et al. 2016).

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor
Albania	extant	native		yes
Algeria	extant	native
Andorra	extant	native		yes
Armenia	extant	native		yes
Austria	extant	native	yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native	yes
Belarus	extant	native	yes
Belgium	extant	native	yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native		yes
Bulgaria	extant	native	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native		yes
Croatia	extant	native	yes
Czechia	extant	native	yes
Denmark	extant	native	yes
Estonia	extant	native	yes
Finland	extant	native	yes
France	extant	native	yes
Georgia	extant	native		yes
Germany	extant	native	yes
Greece	extant	native	yes
Hungary	extant	native	yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes
Iraq	extant	native	yes
Italy	extant	native	yes
Japan	extant	native		yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native		yes
Latvia	extant	native	yes
Liechtenstein	extant	native	yes
Lithuania	extant	native	yes
Luxembourg	extant	native	yes
Moldova	extant	native	yes
Monaco	extant	native	yes
Mongolia	extant	native		yes
Montenegro	extant	native		yes
Netherlands	extant	native	yes
North Korea	extant	native		yes
North Macedonia	extant	native	yes
Norway	extant	native		yes
Poland	extant	native		yes
Portugal	extant	native	yes
Romania	extant	native	yes
Russia	extant	native	yes	yes
Russia (Asian)	extant	native		yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native	yes
Russia (European)	extant	native		yes
San Marino	extant	native	yes
Serbia	extant	native		yes
Slovakia	extant	native	yes
Slovenia	extant	native	yes
Spain	extant	native	yes
Sweden	extant	native	yes
Switzerland	extant	native	yes
Tunisia	extant	native
Türkiye	extant	native	yes
Ukraine	extant	native	yes
United Kingdom	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	breeding
Forest	Boreal	major	non-breeding
Forest	Boreal	major	breeding
Forest	Temperate	major	non-breeding
Forest	Temperate	major	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha)	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	non-breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Permanent Rivers/Streams/Creeks (includes waterfalls)	suitable	breeding
Altitude	0 - 2000 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Lesser Spotted Woodpecker Dryobates minor. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/lesser-spotted-woodpecker-dryobates-minor on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.