White-backed Woodpecker

The white-backed woodpecker is the largest of the spotted woodpeckers in the western Palearctic, 24–26 centimetres long with a wingspan of 38–40 centimetres. The plumage resembles the great spotted woodpecker's but has white bars across the wings rather than spots, and a white lower back. The male has a red crown and the female a black one. Drumming by males is very loud, and the calls include a soft kiuk and a longer kweek. (Wikipedia, general species account)

The nominate race occurs in central and northern Europe, lilfordi in the Balkans and Turkey, and ten further races in the region eastwards as far as Korea and Japan. It is a scarce bird, requiring large tracts of mature deciduous forest with a lot of standing and lying dead wood. Numbers have decreased in the Nordic countries, and in Sweden the decline led the government to protect the species in its national Biodiversity Action Plan. (Wikipedia, general species account)