Pygmy Woodpecker

Pygmy Woodpecker

Yungipicus kizuki

Silhouette: Pepe Reigada · PhyloPic

Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Seoul

In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%

3,168 Verified sightings at Seoul
335 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
October Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Pygmy Woodpecker

The Japanese pygmy woodpecker or simply pygmy woodpecker (Yungipicus kizuki) is a species of woodpecker. It is found in coniferous and deciduous forests in Russia, China, Korea and Japan. This species has also been placed in the genus Dendrocopos or Picoides. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.

This species was described by Temminck in 1836. The species has previously been placed in genera Dendrocopos and Picoides. The Japanese pygmy woodpecker is 13–15 cm (5.1–5.9 in) long. The crown is grey-brown. A white supercilium starts above the eye and continues to the neck and breast. The ear coverts are brown, and there is a white moustachial stripe and a grey-brown malar stripe. The chin and throat are white. The mantle and back are dark brown, with white bars. The upperwing coverts and flight feathers are brownish-black and have white... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call1:07

Japan · 2026

© Ding Li Yong · XC1144965 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Drumming1:24

South Korea · 2021

© Wonseok Jang · XC804650 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Drum0:11

Japan · 2015

© Peter Boesman · XC285907 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Nikko National Park 🇯🇵 Japan
~60%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sendai 🇯🇵 Japan
~60%
2 Sapporo 🇯🇵 Japan
~40%
3 Seoul 🇰🇷 South Korea
~40%
4 Gwangju 🇰🇷 South Korea
~40%
5 Fukuoka 🇯🇵 Japan
~40%
6 Busan 🇰🇷 South Korea
~40%
7 Daejeon 🇰🇷 South Korea
~40%
8 Nagoya 🇯🇵 Japan
~30%
9 Tokyo 🇯🇵 Japan
~30%
10 Osaka 🇯🇵 Japan
~20%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Pygmy Woodpecker in Seoul?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pygmy Woodpecker sighting in Seoul on a given day, based on 3,168 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 18th most-seen of the 231 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Pygmy Woodpecker in Seoul?

October

In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Pygmy Woodpecker in Seoul on a given day, against about 30% in March and July–August, the lowest months. That is one of Seoul's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain against 360 mm in July.

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

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pygmy 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 Seoul the best place to see a Pygmy Woodpecker?

3rd of 14

Of the 14 cities where we can rate Pygmy Woodpecker sightings, Seoul ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Sendai (Japan, about 60%) and Sapporo (Japan, about 40%).

Where does the Pygmy Woodpecker sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Pygmy Woodpecker is recorded against all the birds logged in Seoul (3,168 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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