Red-Listed lesser spotted woodpecker spotted in Gloucestershire

Worcester News Camera Club member Paul Turner captured the bird resting on a tree branch in Gloucestershire.

A spokesperson for the RSPB said: “There are not many Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers in the UK and they spend much of their time high in the trees, so they can be very tricky to find.

“Even in good areas, you may need several visits and a little luck.”

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With a wingspan of 26 centimetres and weighing just 21 grams, equivalent to just three 2p coins, the lesser spotted woodpecker is the smallest and rarest of the three woodpecker species living in the UK.

The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Image: Paul Turner)

The red cap on the bird’s head indicates it is a male, while the female bird is just black and white.

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The Red List of Birds

Birds of Conservation Concern 5, better known as the UK Red List for Birds, lists 70 species of birds in the UK which are most at risk of severe population decline or outright extinction.

According to the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, there are less than 1,000 breeding pairs of lesser spotted woodpeckers in the UK, compared to 130,000 of their cousins, the greater spotted woodpecker.