Black Woodpecker

Black Woodpecker

Dryocopus martius

Silhouette: Walter Imp · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Belgrade

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%

213 Verified sightings at Belgrade
1,937 In all 19 parks From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Black Woodpecker

The black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius) is a large woodpecker that lives in mature forests across the northern Palearctic. It is the sole representative of its genus in that region, and its range is expanding. The black woodpecker is easily the largest woodpecker species in Europe as well as in the portion of Asia where it lives and is one of the largest species worldwide. This non-migratory species tends to make its home in old-growth forest or large forest stands and excavates a large tree hole to reside in. In turn, several species rely on black woodpeckers to secondarily reside in the holes made in trees by them. This woodpecker's diet consists mostly of carpenter ants. This species is closely related to, and fills the same ecological niche in Europe as, the pileated woodpecker of North America and the lineated woodpecker of South America, also being similar to the white-bellied woodpecker which is distributed to the south somewhat of the black woodpecker in Asia.

The black woodpecker was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Picus martius. Linnaeus gave the locality... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:53

Sweden · 2026

© Lars Edenius · XC1163323 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Drumming0:39

Italy · 2026

© Gianluca Congi · XC1087395 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Duet0:56

France · 2025

© Olivier SWIFT · XC980312 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~50%
2 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~20%
3 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
~20%
4 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~20%
5 Tatra National Park 🇸🇰 Slovakia
~20%
6 Kiskunság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~10%
7 Plitvice Lakes National Park 🇭🇷 Croatia
~10%
8 Aigüestortes National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
9 Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
10 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
11 Fertő-Hanság National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~10%
12 Cévennes National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
13 Hortobágy National Park 🇭🇺 Hungary
~10%
14 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
15 Hohe Tauern National Park 🇦🇹 Austria
~10%
16 Gauja National Park 🇱🇻 Latvia
~10%
17 Vanoise National Park 🇫🇷 France
<5%
18 Picos de Europa National Park 🇪🇸 Spain
<5%
19 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Novosibirsk 🇷🇺 Russia
~20%
2 Nizhny Novgorod 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
3 Belgrade 🇷🇸 Serbia
~10%
4 Kyiv 🇺🇦 Ukraine
~10%
5 Vienna 🇦🇹 Austria
~10%
6 Prague 🇨🇿 Czechia
~10%
7 Moscow 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
8 Warsaw 🇵🇱 Poland
~10%
9 Sapporo 🇯🇵 Japan
~10%
10 Helsinki 🇫🇮 Finland
~10%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Alpenzoo Innsbruck 🇦🇹 Austria In captivity
2 Ogród Zoologiczny w Katowicach 🇵🇱 Poland In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Black Woodpecker in Belgrade?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Woodpecker sighting in Belgrade on a given day, based on 213 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 46th most-seen of the 144 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Black Woodpecker in Belgrade?

February and August–September

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black Woodpecker in Belgrade on a given day, against under 5% in June and July, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Black Woodpecker?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Belgrade the best place to see a Black Woodpecker?

3rd of 22

Of the 22 cities where we can rate Black Woodpecker sightings, Belgrade ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Novosibirsk (Russia, about 20%) and Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, about 10%).

Which relatives of the Black Woodpecker live in Belgrade?

Same family: Picidae

The closest relatives of the Black Woodpecker that you can see in Belgrade (family Picidae, Woodpeckers) are Great Spotted Woodpecker (about 40%), Green Woodpecker (about 20%) and Syrian Woodpecker (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Black Woodpecker sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Black Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Belgrade (213 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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