Lesser Spotted Woodpecker

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor) is a very small black-and-white woodpecker with a barred back and a red crown confined to the adult male. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits deciduous woodland, river woods, orchards and parks across the Palearctic, searching fine branches for insects and larvae and excavating its nest hole in dead or decaying wood. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).