Dendrocopos syriacus
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The Syrian woodpecker (Dendrocopos syriacus) is a member of the woodpecker family, the Picidae. The Syrian woodpecker was first described as Picus syriacus by Wilhelm Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in 1833, from a specimen collected on Mount Lebanon.
The woodpecker is a resident breeding bird from southeastern Europe east to Iran. Its range has expanded further northwest into Europe in recent years. It is an inhabitant of open woodlands, cultivation with trees and scrubs, and parks, depending for food and nesting sites upon old trees. It is often an inconspicuous bird, in spite of the plumage.
The woodpecker is 23 cm (9.1 in) long, and is very similar to the great spotted woodpecker, Dendrocopos major. The upper parts of the male are glossy black, with a crimson spot on the nape and white on the forehead, sides of the face and neck. On the shoulder is a large white patch and the flight feathers are black with white spots forming three wingbars. The three outer tail feathers show only a few white spots; these show when the short stiff tail is outspread, acting as a support in climbing. The under parts are... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Fertő-Hanság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Syrian Woodpecker sighting in Istanbul on a given day, based on 844 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 31st most-seen of the 233 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Syrian Woodpecker in Istanbul on a given day, against about 10% in July and December, the lowest months. That is one of Istanbul's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain against 90 mm in December.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Syrian Woodpecker sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 24
Of the 24 cities where we can rate Syrian Woodpecker sightings, Istanbul ranks 12th at about 20%. The best odds are in Jerusalem (Israel, about 80%), Ramallah (Palestine, about 70%) and Karaj (Iran, about 60%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Syrian Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Istanbul (844 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.
