Dendrocopos leucotos

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Euavialae
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Euornithes
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Ornithurae
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Piciformes

Familia: Picidae
Subfamilia: Picinae
Genus: Dendrocopos
Species: Dendrocopos leucotos
Subspecies:

lilfordi group (S Europe to Caucasus): D. l. lilfordi
leucotos group (N Europe, N Asia): D. l. leucotos – D. l. uralensis
namiyei group (Japan): D. l. namiyei – D. l. owstoni – D. l. stejnegeri – D. l. subcirris
insularis group (China, Korean islands, Taiwan): D. l. fohkiensis – D. l. insularis – D. l. quelpartensis – D. l. takahashii – D. l. tangi

Name

Dendrocopos leucotos (Bechstein, 1803)
Synonymy

Picus leucotos (protonym)

References

Ornithologisches Taschenbuch von und für Deutschland 1: 66, plate.

Vernacular names
العربية: نقار خشب أبيض الظهر
asturianu: Picu dorsiblanco
azərbaycanca: Ağbel ağacdələn
башҡортса: Аҡ ала тумыртҡа
беларуская (тарашкевіца): Дзяцел беласьпінны
беларуская: Беласпінны дзяцел
български: Белогръб кълвач
brezhoneg: Speg kein gwenn
català: Picot garser dorsiblanc
čeština: Strakapoud bělohřbetý
Cymraeg: Cnocell gefnwen
dansk: Hvidrygget Flagspætte
Deutsch: Weißrückenspecht
English: White-backed Woodpecker
Esperanto: Blankdorsa buntpego
español: Pico dorsiblanco
eesti: Valgeselg-kirjurähn
euskara: Okil gibelnabar
فارسی: دارکوب پشت‌سفید
suomi: Valkoselkätikka
français: Pic à dos blanc
Gaeilge: Cnagaire droimgheal
galego: Peto de dorso branco
magyar: Fehérhátú fakopáncs
հայերեն: Փայտփոր սպիտակամեջք
italiano: Picchio dorsobianco
日本語: オオアカゲラ
қазақша: Ақжон тоқылдақ
한국어: 큰오색딱따구리
lietuvių: Baltnugaris genys
latviešu: Baltmugurdzenis
македонски: Белокрстен шарен клукајдрвец
эрзянь: Ашо кутьмере шекшата
Nederlands: Witrugspecht
norsk nynorsk: Kvitryggspett
norsk: Hvitryggspett
polski: Dzięcioł białogrzbiety
русский: Белоспинный дятел
davvisámegiella: Vilgessealčáihni
slovenčina: Ďateľ bielochrbtý
српски / srpski: Планински детлић
svenska: Vitryggig hackspett
Türkçe: Ak sırtlı ağaçkakan
татарча/tatarça: Аксыртлы тукран
українська: Дятел білоспинний
中文: 白背啄木鸟

The white-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) is a Eurasian woodpecker belonging to the genus Dendrocopos.

Taxonomy

The white-backed woodpecker was described by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802 under the binomial name Picus leucotos.[3] The specific epithet leucotos combines the Classical Greek leukos meaning "white" and -nōtos meaning "-backed".[4] The type locality is Silesia, a historical region mainly located in Poland.[5] The species is now placed in the genus Dendrocopos that was introduced by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch in 1816.[6][7]

Twelve subspecies are recognised.[7]

D. l. leucotos (Bechstein, 1802) – widespread across Eurasia from north, central and eastern Europe to northeast Asia, Korea and Sakhalin
D. l. uralensis (Malherbe, 1860) – west Ural Mountains to Lake Baikal
D. l. lilfordi (Sharpe & Dresser, 1871) – Pyrenees to Asia Minor, Caucasus and Transcaucasia
D. l. tangi Cheng, 1956 – Sichuan province, western China
D. l. subcirris (Stejneger, 1886) – Hokkaido, northern Japan
D. l. stejnegeri (Kuroda, 1921) – northern Honshū, Japan
D. l. namiyei (Stejneger, 1886) – south Honshū, Kyushu, Shikoku (Japan)
D. l. takahashii (Kuroda & Mori, 1920) – Ulleungdo Island (off eastern Korea)
D. l. quelpartensis (Kuroda & Mori, 1918) – Jeju Island (off South Korea)
D. l. owstoni (Ogawa, 1905) – Amami Ōshima Island in the northern Ryukyu Islands, Japan
D. l. fohkiensis (Buturlin, 1908) – mountains of Fujian province, southeast China
D. l. insularis (Gould, 1863) – Taiwan

The subspecies D. l. owstoni is sometimes considered a distinct species, the Amami woodpecker.[8]
Description

It is the largest of the spotted woodpeckers in the western Palearctic, 24–26 cm long with wing-span 38–40 cm. The plumage is similar to the great spotted woodpecker, but with white bars across the wings rather than spots, and a white lower back. The male has a red crown, the female a black one.[9] Drumming by males is very loud, calls include a soft kiuk and a longer kweek.
Distribution

The nominate race D. l. leucotos occurs in central and northern Europe, with the race D. l. lilfordi found in the Balkans and Turkey. Ten further races occur in the region eastwards as far as Korea and Japan. It is a scarce bird, requiring large tracts of mature deciduous forests with high amounts of standing and laying dead wood. Numbers have decreased in Nordic countries. In Sweden, its population decline has caused the Swedish government to enact protection for the species in the national Biodiversity Action Plan.[10]
Ecology
Dendrocopos leucotos leucotos - MHNT

In the breeding season it excavates a nest hole about 7 cm wide and 30 cm deep in a decaying tree trunk. It lays three to five white eggs and incubates for 10–11 days. It lives predominantly on wood-boring beetles as well as their larvae, as well as other insects, nuts, seeds and berries.
Life Span

In the wild the white-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) can survive between three to four years, while in captivity they can survive for approximately eleven years.[11]
References

BirdLife International (2020). "Dendrocopos leucotos". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22727124A181844246. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22727124A181844246.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
BirdLife International and NatureServe (2014) Bird Species Distribution Maps of the World. 2014. Dendrocopos leucotos. In: IUCN 2014. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. http://www.iucnredlist.org. Downloaded on 27 May 2015.
Bechstein, Johann Matthäus (1802). Ornithologisches Taschenbuch von und für Deutschland, oder, Kurze Beschreibung aller Vögel Deutschlands für Liebhaber dieses Theils der Naturgeschichte (in German). Leipzig: Carl Friedrich Enoch Richter. p. 66.
Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 225. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
Peters, James Lee, ed. (1948). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 6. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 189.
Koch, C.L. (1816). System der baierischen Zoologie (in German). Vol. 1. Nürnberg: Stein. pp. xxvii, 72.
Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Woodpeckers". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
BirdLife International (2016). "Dendrocopos owstoni". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22727132A94941890. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22727132A94941890.en. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
The Birds of the Western Palearctic [Abridged]. OUP. 1997. ISBN 0-19-854099-X.
National Biodiversity Action Plan of Sweden, Upsala (1999)

Cramp, Stanley (1986). Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198575076.