- info from Wikipedia Pic épeiche // Great Spotted Woodpecker decked out in red, white and blue ! Many woodpeckers have the habit of tapping noisily on tree trunks with their beaks. Photograph Great Spotted Woodpecker II by Dean Mason on Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), female - photo by Dean Mason, via found throughout Europe and northern Asia; "Males have a crimson spot on the nape, which is absent in females." Description: Great Spotted Woodpecker averages 23-26 cm in length, with a 38-44 cm wingspan. It lives in woodlands and parks with old trees for nesting and plenty of food. This has shown that deadwood is an important habitat requirement for the black woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker, middle spotted woodpecker, lesser spotted woodpecker, European green woodpecker and Eurasian three-toed woodpecker. It is mostly resident except in the colder regions of its range. Woodpeckers produce more youngsters when given extra food. It displayed a large white face patch, a bright red lower belly, a completely black back and an elongated white patch on each wing. Pileated Woodpeckers are year-round residents to most of the state of Michigan, but less common in the southeastern part of the state. Most woodpeckers are resident, but a few temperate-zone species, such as the North American yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) and the flicker (genus Colaptes), are migratory. The Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) is distributed throughout Europe and northern Asia. Woodpeckers, Flickers & Sapsuckers Pics Picidae Information, images and range maps on over 1,000 birds of North America, including sub-species, vagrants, introduced birds and possibilities North America. Some species have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, while several species have only three toes. Populations of all these species increased by varying amounts in the period 1990 to 2008. Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails and long tongues used for capturing insects. These features suggested only one likely species--the Great Spotted Woodpecker (D. major) of Eurasia Woodpeckers occur nearly worldwide, except in the region of Australia and New Guinea, but are most abundant in South America and Southeast Asia. Feeding Great Spotted Woodpeckers in early spring can double the number of young a pair raises. They are the largest species of woodpeckers in Michigan as well as North America. Like other woodpeckers they readily eat at suet feeders when offered but they can be quite elusive and hard to attract. Publish date: 18/06/2013. However, this b•rd's plumage differed from that of the Hairy in other ways.