Great spotted woodpecker

Dendrocopos major Today, 3 October

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

now young dispersing 5 days

young dispersing Bird here all year

The whole year

8 August – 8 October

the coastal calendar, shifted 24 days later for this region

Sitting the year outGetting readyYoung aboutYoung leaving

Where to look

Oak, pine and orchard; the drumming carries further than the bird can be seen.

Worth knowing

Drumming is territory, not feeding, and it peaks in February — the earliest sound of the breeding year in most Croatian woodland. A fresh hole is excavated most years, and last year's is inherited by tits, dormice or bats.

Look it up

photos, sightings and recordings, off this site

iNaturalist — photos and where people are seeing it Wikipedia — Dendrocopos major xeno-canto — recordings of the call

Regions

where this species is on the list

Dalmatian coastKvarner and IstriaVelebit and the DinaridesSlavonia and the Pannonian plainTukhlia, Ukrainian Carpathians

Phase by phase

dates as they fall in the region chosen above

Phase	When	Length	What it means
courting	18 February – 12 April	54 days	Song, display, fighting, scent-marking — pairs forming or reaffirming.
building	13 April – 13 May	31 days	Nest, burrow or den under construction, or being lined out.
on eggs	14 May – 2 June	20 days	Clutch laid and being incubated, or buried and left to the sun.
raising young	3 June – 28 June	26 days	Dependent young in the nest, den or burrow, being fed.
young have left	29 June – 7 August	40 days	Young out of the nest or den, but still fed and followed by the adults.
young dispersing	8 August – 8 October	62 days	Young leaving for good, looking for a territory of their own.
going about the year	9 October – 17 February	132 days	Feeding, holding territory, doing nothing the calendar singles out.

Other birds in this region

Barn swallowBlack storkCommon cuckooCommon nightingaleCommon ravenCommon swiftEuropean robinGreat titGriffon vultureTawny owl

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