Blackbird
Turdus merulaJFMAMJJASOND
Slow, rich, fluting phrases that wander about and often trail off into a quiet chuckle.
Birds / Woodpeckers
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Dendrocopos majorAlso known as Greater spotted woodpecker and Pied woodpecker
Recording: our own Vi Natura listening station
Sounds like
A sharp, loud 'kik!' or 'tchik!', often repeated as it bounds off through the trees. From late winter into spring it also drums: a very fast burst on dead wood, over in about a second and fading at the end.
Remember it
A single 'kik!' from the treetops, like a pebble tapped on glass. Its drumming is a quick drum-roll, over in a second, not the slow tapping of a bird feeding.
When and where
Listening for the great spotted woodpecker
- Heard
- JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAll year round
- Time of day
- Dawn and Day
- Where
- Woodland, Gardens, Towns
- In Britain
- All year
- Family
- Woodpeckers
Could you pick out a great spotted woodpecker?
Hear a song, choose from four birds, and build your streak.
Same habitat
Also in woodland
Blue Tit
Cyanistes caeruleusJFMAMJJASOND
Two or three thin, high notes followed by a fast, shimmering trill: 'tsee-tsee-tsuhuhuhu'.
Carrion Crow
Corvus coroneJFMAMJJASOND
A harsh, hoarse 'kraa-kraa-kraa', usually three or four calls in a row from a treetop, rooftop or aerial, each one flat and croaky.
Dunnock
Prunella modularisJFMAMJJASOND
A hurried, flat, squeaky warble that stays on one level and stops abruptly, like a squeaky wheel turning.