White-backed Woodpecker

White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) is a large pied woodpecker with a white lower back, barred wings and red crown on the 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 favours mature Eurasian forest rich in dead and decaying timber, using a strong bill to expose beetle larvae and other insects and excavating its nesting chamber in softened 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).