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Woodpeckers (Picidae)

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos minor) - HBW 7, p. 477

French: Pic épeichette German: Kleinspecht Spanish: Pico Menor
Other common names: Lesser Pied Woodpecker

Taxonomy: Picus minor Linnaeus, 1758, Sweden.
Genus sometimes merged into Picoides. Related to D. canicapillus and D. kizuki. Recent genetic data suggest also a link to North American “Picoides pubescens group”. Races intergrade extensively over species’ huge range, with many intermediate populations; numerous additional races have been described, but often on rather weak grounds, and differences are often part of a clinal variation. Named races not accepted include hispaniae (Spain), jordansi (C European mountains), serbicus (Montenegro), wagneri (Romania), hyrcanus (N.. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Picus minor Linnaeus, 1758, Sweden.
Genus sometimes merged into Picoides. Related to D. canicapillus and D. kizuki. Recent genetic data suggest also a link to North American “Picoides pubescens group”. Races intergrade extensively over species’ huge range, with many intermediate populations; numerous additional races have been described, but often on rather weak grounds, and differences are often part of a clinal variation. Named races not accepted include hispaniae (Spain), jordansi (C European mountains), serbicus (Montenegro), wagneri (Romania), hyrcanus (N Iran), mongolicus (SW Siberia to Mongolia), nojidoensis (NE Korea) and immaculatus (Kamchatka). Eleven subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • minor (Linnaeus, 1758) - N Europe from Scandinavia E to Ural Mts.
  • kamtschatkensis (Malherbe, 1861) - Urals E to R Anadyr and Kamchatka.
  • amurensis (Buturlin, 1908) - lower R Amur and Sakhalin S to NE Korea and N Japan (Hokkaido).

     See all 11 subspecies
  • minor (Linnaeus, 1758) - N Europe from Scandinavia E to Ural Mts.
  • kamtschatkensis (Malherbe, 1861) - Urals E to R Anadyr and Kamchatka.
  • amurensis (Buturlin, 1908) - lower R Amur and Sakhalin S to NE Korea and N Japan (Hokkaido).
  • comminutus Hartert, 1907 - SC & S Britain.
  • hortorum (C. L. Brehm, 1831) - France E to Poland and S to Switzerland, Hungary and N Romania.
  • buturlini (Hartert, 1912) - Iberia, S France and Italy E to Romania, Bulgaria and N Greece.
  • ledouci (Malherbe, 1855) - N Africa (NE Algeria, NW Tunisia).
  • danfordi (Hargitt, 1883) - Greece and Turkey.
  • colchicus (Buturlin, 1908) - Caucasus and Transcaucasia.
  • quadrifasciatus (Radde, 1884) - Lenkoran region of SE Transcaucasia.
  • morgani Zarudny & Loudon, 1904 - NW Iran and Zagros Mts.

Photos

14 photos
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