Rencontre avec le Pic de Lilford dans la Selva de Irati (Espagne) en mars 2017

The White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) occupies a wide range, from southern Europe to the Pacific coast (Kamchatka Peninsula, Korea, Japan), and ten subspecies are recognized, two of which breed in Europe: D. l. Leucotos in central, northern and northeastern Europe and D. l. Lilfordi, sometimes called the Lilford’s Woodpecker, in the Pyrenees, Abruzzo (Italy), Balkans, Turkey and Caucasus. The Lilford’s Woodpecker can be distinguished from the nominate subspecies by its white back barred with black.
The total population of the Pyrenees is about 400-500 pairs. The species lives in mature beeches or mixed Beeches/fires forests between 450 and 1,850 meters above sea level. About a hundred pairs live on the Spanish side, mainly in Navarre, a small relictual population being present in Aragon. 70% of the Spanish pairs breed in the Quinto Real and Irat forests, the latter presenting one of the highest « densities » (0.57 pairs per 100 hectares).
Marc Fasol stayed in the Pyrenees from the 15th to the 25th of March 2017 to watch the Lilford’s Woodpecker: after three days of unsuccessful research on the French side, he went on the advice of a Catalan friend in the Selva of Irati, not far from small village of Orbaizeta, and he found it from the first day. In this article, he describes his encounter with this rare bird and he gives us practical advice to watch it in spring.