Dendrocopos syriacus
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Syrian Woodpecker sighting in Vienna on a given day, based on 35 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 80th most-seen of the 126 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Syrian Woodpecker in Vienna on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months. Those are among Vienna's wettest months, with about 90 mm of rain a month against 40 mm in February.
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.
23rd of 24
Of the 24 cities where we can rate Syrian Woodpecker sightings, Vienna ranks 23rd at under 5%. 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 Vienna (35 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.
