White-backed Woodpecker

White-backed Woodpecker

Dendrocopos leucotos

Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Minsk

In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%

8 Verified sightings at Minsk
699 In all 7 parks From 2019 to 2026
November Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the White-backed Woodpecker

The white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) is a Eurasian woodpecker belonging to the genus Dendrocopos. The white-backed woodpecker was described by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802 under the binomial name Picus leucotos. The specific epithet leucotos combines the Classical Greek leukos meaning "white" and -nōtos meaning "-backed". The type locality is Silesia, a historical region mainly located in Poland. The species is now placed in the genus Dendrocopos that was introduced by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch in 1816.

Twelve subspecies are recognised. Wikipedia →

Sounds

Pecking0:24

Sweden · 2026

© Lars Edenius · XC1085637 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Drumming1:18

Sweden · 2025

© Mathias Bergström · XC979104 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:27

Estonia · 2022

© Uku Paal · XC719599 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~30%
2 Plitvice Lakes National Park 🇭🇷 Croatia
~20%
3 Nikko National Park 🇯🇵 Japan
~10%
4 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
5 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
<5%
6 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
<5%
7 Gauja National Park 🇱🇻 Latvia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Novosibirsk 🇷🇺 Russia
~30%
2 Kazan 🇷🇺 Russia
~20%
3 Sapporo 🇯🇵 Japan
~10%
4 Moscow 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
5 Daejeon 🇰🇷 South Korea
~10%
6 Busan 🇰🇷 South Korea
~10%
7 Yekaterinburg 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
8 Saint Petersburg 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
9 Seoul 🇰🇷 South Korea
<5%
10 Helsinki 🇫🇮 Finland
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a White-backed Woodpecker in Minsk?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-backed Woodpecker sighting in Minsk on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 127th most-seen of the 146 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a White-backed Woodpecker in Minsk?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-backed Woodpecker in Minsk on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a White-backed Woodpecker?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-backed 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.

Is Minsk the best place to see a White-backed Woodpecker?

11th of 11

Of the 11 cities where we can rate White-backed Woodpecker sightings, Minsk ranks 11th at under 5%. The best odds are in Novosibirsk (Russia, about 30%), Kazan (Russia, about 20%) and Sapporo (Japan, about 10%).

Which relatives of the White-backed Woodpecker live in Minsk?

Same genus: Dendrocopos

The closest relatives of the White-backed Woodpecker that you can see in Minsk (genus Dendrocopos, Eurasian Pied Woodpeckers) are Great Spotted Woodpecker (about 30%) and Syrian Woodpecker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the White-backed Woodpecker sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the White-backed Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Minsk (8 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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