Birdwatching - 3072 🐦

🦉 The lesser spotted woodpecker (Picoides minor , synonym of Dryobates minor)

• Dryobates (Greek) : druos - forest, woodland, batēs - walker, stroller
• minor (Latin) - smaller

This little woodpecker is like a miniature version of its larger relatives. It is barely larger than a sparrow, but that only makes it more charming. Its gaze seems angry because of the feathers sticking out above its eyes, as if it is always dissatisfied with something.

Unlike the powerful blows of the Great Spotted Woodpecker, the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker works more subtly - it searches through thin branches, looking for larvae under the bark. Thick trunks do not interest it, unless the tree has already rotted, and the bark falls off by itself.

Sometimes it can be confused with a nuthatch, because it darts along the branches just as deftly, sometimes even upside down, but it is still far from the nuthatch's agility and speed.