Bird guide · Dendrocopos major

Great Spotted Woodpecker

What the great spotted woodpecker eats, where it lives, when it comes to feeders and how to recognise it – with sightings from across the UK.

Season: Year-round resident
Size: 8.9 in (22.5 cm)
Eats: peanuts, suet, seeds
Feeds: peanut feeder, suet cage, tray/platform
Most common: Wales, England, Scotland

Great Spotted Woodpecker, a garden bird that visits feeders — Photo Paolo Zucca / iNaturalist, CC BY

Food

What do great spotted woodpeckers eat?

At feeders, great spotted woodpeckers take peanuts, suet, seeds.

A bold, regular visitor to peanut and suet feeders.

Feeder that suits it

A suet cage on a tree trunk or pole; peanuts and sunflower hearts work too.

Suet for birds →

Bird feeder cameras compared →

Range

Where do great spotted woodpeckers live?

Larger woods, gardens and parks across most of the UK, spreading north and into Ireland. By share of all bird sightings, great spotted woodpeckers are most common in Wales (0.9%).

Nations where great spotted woodpeckers are most common

Share of all bird sightings in each nation that are great spotted woodpeckers, 2019–2024.

Season

Does the great spotted woodpecker migrate?

Year-round resident. Across the UK it is reported in every month; its share of bird sightings is highest in December.

Share of all bird sightings in the UK that are great spotted woodpeckers, by month.

Identification

How to identify the great spotted woodpecker

Adults: Black and white with red under the tail; red patch on the back of the head.

Young birds: Red crown.

Size: 8.9 in (22.5 cm)

Nesting

Does the great spotted woodpecker use nest boxes?

Yes. It nests in boxes as well as natural cavities.

On camera

Getting the great spotted woodpecker on a feeder camera

Pick a camera feeder that takes a suet cage, or mount a separate camera next to a suet feeder on the trunk – woodpeckers cling to the bark while they feed.

Questions