Medium-sized woodpecker (slightly larger than a starling). It has only three toes on its feet. The general color tone is dark. There is no red color in the plumage. The cap of males is golden yellow, while that of females is whitish or gray-haired. The sides of the head and the back of the head are black. A white stripe runs from the eye, merging with the white field on the back of the neck. A second white stripe runs parallel to the first from the corners of the mouth and under the eye; from below it is limited by black "mustache". From the neck along the back there is a wide white field, sometimes with black spots. The rest of the back is black. The belly is dirty white with transverse black streaks, especially noticeable on the sides of the body. In young birds, these streaks are thicker. Forechest with longitudinal dark strokes. The undertail is white or mottled white. The flight feathers are black with white spots on the outer webs. Inner flight feathers with large oval white spots. The rudders are black, but the 3 outer pairs have white transverse stripes. Legs gray or lead grey. The beak is dark horn, blackish at the end. The lower jaw is colored lighter. The iris is bluish-white or pearlescent. Male weight 63-69 g, female 51-59 g. Body length (both sexes) 23-25 cm, wingspan 37-43 cm.
Inhabits large deaf massifs of coniferous and mixed forests of the northern type. Prefers a forest stand dominated by spruce, pure spruce forests, spruce-pine and spruce-deciduous forests. Especially loves shady, damp, sometimes swampy areas, often settles in floodplains. It finds no less favorable conditions in burnt areas, where there is a lot of dead wood, in old clearings with numerous stumps and deadwood. Characteristic nesting biotopes in Poozerye are moist coniferous and mixed forests of the taiga type, especially in floodplains and on the outskirts of marshes. In southwestern Belarus, it inhabits dark coniferous and pine forests along the edges of swamps, black alder forests, mixed forests with dead trees. Prefers pure spruce forests, spruce-pine and spruce-deciduous forests.
The area of the pair's nesting area in Poozerye ranges from 10 to 30 ha. The highest nesting density (0.10-0.15 pairs/km²) was noted in mossy and sphagnum plantations (Rossony district).
The mating games of the three-toed woodpecker begin in the third decade of March - the first decade of April. However, the first signs of mating behavior are already noted in February, when males show increased motor activity, shout excitedly and emit drumming, which subsides only by the end of May. The construction of hollows coincides with the period of intense current.
Pairs are formed in late March - early April, but individual pairs have been observed since autumn. Breeds in separate pairs. Nests are arranged in hollows, which are hollowed out in rotten or dry trunks, high stumps of spruces, less often pines and other trees. The height of the hollow is usually small, 2-5 m, sometimes below 1 m and, as an exception (in other parts of Europe), 15 or even up to 20 m. ), pines (33%), aspens (15%), at a height of 1-6, more often 2-3 m. 0.7–6 m (average 3.6 m). Nesting in hollows in living trees is not typical: only one case of nesting in the last year's hollow of Dendrocopos major, made in a damp-growing aspen, is known in Poozerie.
Letok is rounded. At the bottom of the hollow happens significant amount wood dust (a layer up to 5-6 cm thick), on which the eggs are located. Notch diameter 4.0-5.2 cm, hollow depth 26-30 cm, width in the middle part 10-13 cm. Nest tree trunk diameter at the hollow level 14-32 cm (average 27 cm).
The usual clutch consists of 4-5 eggs, occasionally only 3 or 6-7. The shell is pure white, shiny. Egg weight 4.6-5.4, average 5.1±0.2 g, length 23.5-26.3 mm, diameter 18.0-19.6 mm (average 24.9x18.8 mm).
The bird starts laying eggs in the first half of May and even later. One brood per year. The male and female incubate for 14-15 days; the chicks leave the nest at the age of 24 days. In Lakeland, chicks hatch in last days May and in the first decade of June. Departure of young from hollows occurs, as a rule, in the second half of June. Embryonic mortality is 14.3%, postembryonic 8.3%. For south-western Belarus, other dates for the departure of chicks are indicated - the end of June - the beginning of July.
After the breakup of the broods at the end of June, the molt begins, which proceeds during August and September. Broods at first keep together, in the third decade of July in southwestern Belarus the young are already kept alone.
The migrations of young and adult three-toed woodpeckers in the autumn-winter period within large forests are clearly expressed and are well confirmed by mapping of encounters. The radius of winter migrations noticeably increases, especially in the first half of winter. Nomadic birds are more often observed in copses, forest edges and overgrown clearings.
It feeds on xylophagous insects, it is especially useful for the destruction of bark beetles. It is estimated that in a short winter day, a three-toed woodpecker is able to peel off the dead bark from a shrunken old spruce and eat up to 10,000 bark beetle larvae. In addition, stem pests, caterpillars of various butterflies, hymenoptera insects, and spiders are harvested. Food is usually obtained close to the nest. Having found a tree damaged by pests, woodpeckers process it for several days in a row.
In autumn and winter, birds feed on insects living under the bark or in wood, they get them by chiselling. In winter, in addition to insects, it eats a small amount of spruce seeds.
The number of the three-toed woodpecker in Belarus is stable, estimated at 3-5 thousand pairs. The data of counting the number at stations in Poozerye during the nesting period indicate its significant interannual fluctuations: from 0.2 pairs per 1 km² to complete absence, which indicates the variability of nesting sites.
The species has been included in the Red Book of Belarus since 1981.
The maximum registered age in Europe is 9 years 3 months.
Last weekend, while walking through the woods at a dacha in Uglich, I met a Three-Toed Woodpecker for the first time ( Picoides tridactylus).
Not just one, but a couple!
Those are miracles. Of course, I knew that they exist somewhere, I saw them in the pictures in the guide atlases, but in Moscow they are very rarely seen, nesting is not recorded. For ornithological research, the whole of Moscow within the Moscow Ring Road is divided into 242 "squares" with an area of 4 square meters. km., on these squares, a survey is being conducted. According to the book "Atlas of birds of the city of Moscow" (2014. M .: "Fiton XXI"), the three-toed woodpecker was noted only in 8 squares, the place of winter meetings is one square. In the Moscow region, this species is listed in the Red Book.
In Uglich, it is also a rare species; in the Red Book of the Yaroslavl region, it is assigned to the 4th category. They write that more often three-toed woodpeckers are found in the northern, taiga forests, they love swamped spruce forests and burnt areas.
The woodpecker is called “three-toed” because it has only three fingers on its paw, while other species have four. Two fingers point forward and one back.
They differ from other species in that they do not have red marks on their heads. The male has a yellow stripe on the top of the head, while the female crown is black with streaks.
These woodpeckers are not large, the size of a starling. Not noisy, the cry is quiet and not sharp: such a musical “guyuk”. They live in hollows of trees, and what is interesting - unlike other species, they choose strong trees that are more difficult to hammer, but the house is more durable. Three-toed woodpeckers rear chicks once a year. Both parents incubate the clutch and feed the chicks in turn, changing 5-6 times a day, only the male incubates at night. The chicks appear in June. Although they write that these woodpeckers keep alone, like other species, but as you can see, sometimes they fly in pairs.
It used to be that these woodpeckers, like other species, are monogamous, but then it was noticed that polyandry is also found (one female has two partners). This is due to the fact that if the female sees that the first spouse is not a particularly good father and is afraid for the offspring, then she lays eggs with the second spouse. At the same time, the female then lives in two houses, cares for and feeds the chicks in both families.
I noticed them by a quiet tapping. But in general it is difficult to notice them, the color of the feathers is such that they completely merge with the tree, and if they are not heard, then you will not make out.
The three-toed woodpeckers perched high in the tree, so I had to shoot very close, and the photos are not very sharp, but you can still see these beautiful birds.
Such interesting and unusual birds are found in our Uglich dacha forest.
- Class: Aves = Birds
- Order: Picariae, Piciformes = Woodpeckers, woodpeckers
- Suborder: Galbulae = Yacamars, primitive woodpeckers
- Family: Picidae = Woodpeckers
- Species: Picoides arcticus = Black-backed three-toed woodpecker
Species: Picoides tridactylus Linnaeus = Three-toed woodpecker
The legs of this woodpecker are three-toed - hence its name. Of the three fingers, two are directed forward and one is backward, although it can turn to the side. three-toed woodpecker close in size to a thrush. The main color background is black and white, along which a transverse pattern is scattered on the sides, and sometimes on the abdomen. The undertail and upper back of the three-toed woodpecker are white. There are differences in the coloration of males and females; sexual dimorphism is noted. So, in males, the crown is golden in color, while in females it is white with dark streaks. The beautiful golden-yellow cap of the male consists of shiny narrow feathers, which he often raises with a ruff. The three-toed woodpecker looks darker than other spotted woodpeckers, especially in flight. And his flight is fast and straight.
The three-toed woodpecker is distributed almost throughout the entire forest zone of Russia, but it is more numerous in the north of its range. He prefers to settle in dense dark coniferous forests, where he mainly feeds on tree insects. To the south, in deciduous forests, the three-toed woodpecker does not enter. Therefore, in the European part of Russia, it does not nest south of the Moscow region and coniferous forests of the southern Urals. In Siberia, its range extends over the taiga region, including to Kamchatka and Sakhalin. This woodpecker is found both in Western Europe and in the north of the American mainland, and in the south of the Asian part of the range it penetrates into Mongolia and Dzungaria.
The three-toed woodpecker nests in coniferous and mixed forests, where in spring you can hear its quiet and short drum trill. To build a nest, he chooses shady and damp places, sometimes even swamps. It has also been noticed that the three-toed woodpecker settles even more willingly in conflagrations and burned areas, which is associated with the presence of a large number of dead trees in such forest areas.
The three-toed woodpecker builds its nest in the hollows of trees, like other woodpeckers. For this purpose, he most often chooses dry, rotten trunks of fir trees, placing hollows at a height of 1-6 m from the ground.
In the nest of the three-toed woodpecker, one can often find very abundant litter, the layer thickness of which can reach up to 60 mm. The diameter of the hollow used to build a nest in a three-toed woodpecker can vary between 60-140 mm, the depth of the hollow is 200-300 mm. At the same time, the size of the notch is smaller than that of the large motley woodpecker.
mating season in the three-toed woodpecker, it occurs in mid-spring, and females usually lay eggs in May. The clutch usually consists of 3-5 white eggs, the sizes of which vary within the following limits: (21-28) x (16-19) mm. Incubation of eggs and feeding of chicks occur in June and the first half of July. Young birds flying out of the hollow can be observed from the second half of July. By the end of August - beginning of September, the young not only lead an independent life, but by this time they already have time to molt and change their nesting plumage to an adult plumage.
The three-toed woodpecker is a sedentary bird, which is one of our most useful birds that inhabit coniferous forests. Due to the fact that, unlike other insectivorous species, the three-toed woodpecker does not fly away for the winter, it diligently destroys forest pests all year round. 
In non-nesting time, three-toed woodpeckers stay alone, slowly fly from tree to tree, search the bark of coniferous and deciduous trees, and crush soft rotten wood. In autumn, you can quite often see up to a dozen three-toed woodpeckers at the same time, silently flying from tree to tree, never uttering a cry.
Three-toed woodpecker, or yellow-headed woodpecker (lat. Picoides tridactylus) is a bird of the woodpecker family.
A small bird with a rather large head and a sharp beak; slightly smaller than the Great Spotted Woodpecker, but half the size of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Length 21-24 cm, wingspan 33-37 cm, weight 50-90 g. The plumage is black and white, but from the side it looks rather dark because of the predominantly black sides and wings. Red markings on the head and undertail, characteristic of other woodpeckers, are absent. Instead of them, the male and young birds of both sexes have a lemon-yellow cap on the crown, the female has a silver-gray cap with dark streaks. On the sides of the head there is an alternation of black and white stripes, one of which forms a narrow "mustache" from the angle of the beak, and the second stretches from the eye and descends along the side of the neck. A white stripe runs along the back from the neck to the rump - clearly visible in most forms and poorly developed in the alpinus subspecies inhabiting the mountains of Central Europe. The lower part is whitish with dark markings of a longitudinal, transverse or V-shaped shape; the intensity of these marks decreases from west to east and from north to south. There are 3 fingers on the foot - two pointing forward and one back. The fourth finger is reduced. The flight is fast and straight. The distribution area is a strip of coniferous and mixed forests of Eurasia from Scandinavia and Central Europe east to Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Hokkaido and the Korean Peninsula. Inhabits mature coniferous and mixed forests of the taiga type, often oppressed or dry. In Central and Eastern Europe, it settles in mountainous wooded areas between 650 and 1900 m above sea level, choosing hard-to-reach slopes overgrown with coniferous trees - spruce, pine, European cedar, or semi-marshy areas with ash and alder, as well as oak- hornbeam groves. In northern Europe, it breeds in mature and overmature forests dominated by spruce and fir. In Siberia, it is common in continuous dark coniferous taiga and larch forests. Everywhere it prefers low-lying flooded areas of the old forest, where there are many diseased and dead trees. Often found in burnt areas, clearings, on the outskirts of swamps. It feeds on insects, mainly larvae and pupae of xylophages. Among the beetles, bark beetles and barbels predominate, to a lesser extent it feeds on leaf beetles, gold beetles, weevils, ground beetles, pied beetles, narrow beetles and some others. Of the moths, it eats the larvae of scoops, moths, leafworms and woodworms. In addition to eating wood, it sometimes eats other invertebrates - ants, spiders, stoneflies, grasshoppers, flies, bees, even mollusks. From vegetable feed it feeds on tree sap, occasionally eats rowan berries. Cones do not hammer. Most often, it obtains food from under the bark of trees, sometimes managing to peel off a large spruce in a day, where up to 10 thousand bark beetle larvae can hide. In summer, it also often catches openly crawling insects. Less often it hammers rotten wood or searches the surface of trunks and branches. If the tree is not completely cleared at once, return to it the next day. After the snow has melted, he examines the boughs lying on the ground and the rotten stumps covered with moss. Feeding on the surface of the earth is very rare. It usually feeds at a height of 1-3 m from the ground, giving preference to dead trees, often lopsided or lying on their side. During the nesting period, males, on average, forage slightly lower than females, preferring stumps and choosing larger trunks. On the other hand, females sometimes feed on living trees.
According to the classification of endangered species, the three-toed woodpecker is in the LC category - the risk of extinction is minimal.
General characteristics and field signs
Typical woodpecker; larger than the small, but smaller than the average motley. From all woodpeckers of the fauna of Eastern Europe and North Asia, it is well distinguished by the presence of a black facial stripe through the eye (and not light brown and poorly pronounced, like in the large and small sharp-winged woodpeckers and some young small spotted woodpeckers from the Far East), a bright yellow "cap » in males and dull yellow - in underyearlings before the first autumn molt, the presence of transverse streaks on the chest and belly (to varying degrees developed in different subspecies), the absence of the first finger, developed to varying degrees by black mottling of the white back, the presence of white color only on two extreme pairs of tail feathers, the absence of red in the plumage. There are no white shoulder spots, a black "mustache" running from the beak along the side of the head, as well as a black stripe through the eye, are connected to the black neck. Longitudinal streaks are developed on the chest, changing to transverse ones on the sides of the belly. The degree of development of white in the plumage of the back, belly, sides of the head and flight feathers varies greatly.
In females, the tips of the parietal feathers, forming a “cap”, are not yellow, like in males, but whitish. Young birds of both sexes have a dirty-yellow “cap”, mottled with gray due to a smaller proportion of feathers with yellow tips, as well as more strongly developed longitudinal streaks on the underside of the body to the detriment of the transverse ones; Also, underyearlings are characterized by a dull coloration. The species calling cry most often sounds like a quiet and inexpressive, difficult to locate “buzz”, but a cry that sounds like a sharp “kick” of a great spotted woodpecker is also noted; during courtship, it emits a long trill, not crackling, like a great spotted woodpecker, but melodiously squealing.
Description
Coloring (Gladkov, 1951; Cramp, 1985). There are no seasonal differences in color. Adult male. The upper part of the head is golden yellow due to the corresponding color of the borders of the parietal feathers. These yellow borders are separated from the dark base of the feather by a white band. On the sides and behind the vertex there is a clearly expressed gray coating. The sides of the head and the back of the head are black; a white stripe runs backwards from the eye, which merges behind with the white color of the back of the neck. Below the ear feathers on the sides of the head there is another white stripe, originating from the base of the beak and bounded below by a black "whisker". A fairly wide white stripe runs from the back of the neck along the back, sometimes interrupted by black marks: in dark subspecies, the latter can almost completely replace the white color. The remaining feathers of the upper body are black or blackish-brown. The short upper tail coverts sometimes have white tips. The ventral side of the body is white with black transverse streaks on the sides of the belly, longitudinal - on the chest and in the upper part of the belly. In the area of transition from the chest to the belly, the feathers bear both types of streaks, which is reflected in the cruciform pattern on them (Volchanetsky, 1940). The undertail coverts are white or with black transverse stripes. Flight feathers are black with opposite white spots on the webs. They are larger on the inner webs of secondary primaries. The upper wing coverts are black, the lower ones with black and white stripes. All steering, except for the 5th and b-th pair, black; the latter with a black base and a black transverse pattern on a white background.
The adult female is colored similarly to the male, only the tips of her parietal feathers are not yellow, but whitish. Young birds of both sexes have a smaller dirty yellow cap and a larger space occupied by longitudinal streaks in the lower part of the body. Underyearlings are usually darker than adult birds of the same subspecies (Volchanetsky, 1940).
Structure and dimensions
The sizes of the three-toed woodpecker are given in table 34 (col. ZM MSU).
| Floor | Wing length | Beak length | Lantern length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | lim | average | n | lim | average | n | lim | average | |
| P.t. albidior | |||||||||
| males | 4 | 123-125 | 124,3 | 4 | 30,0-33,9 | 32,5 | 4 | 20,0-24,0 | 22,1 |
| females | 4 | 120-126 | 123,8 | 4 | 28,2-30,5 | 29,5 | 4 | 20,9-21,9 | 21,6 |
| P.t. tianschanicus | |||||||||
| males | 15 | 115-130 | 125,7 | 14 | 24,9-33,2 | 29,9 | 14 | 20,8-23,0 | 21,9 |
| females | 8 | 117-129 | 129,0 | 8 | 27,0-31,9 | 29,3 | 8 | 20,1-22,8 | 21,3 |
| P.t. trydactylus | |||||||||
| males | 89 | 117-127 | 122,8 | 85 | 26,9-34,0 | 30,8 | 85 | 19,5-24,5 | 22,2 |
| females | 62 | 112-128 | 124,3 | 57 | 25,2-31,7 | 29,1 | 59 | 19,1-23,9 | 22,9 |
| P.t. crissoleucus | |||||||||
| males | 53 | 121-128 | 123,7 | 50 | 29,0-35,0 | 32,4 | 51 | 21,0-25,0 | 22,4 |
| females | 34 | 120-128 | 124,6 | 34 | 27,1-32,2 | 29,6 | 34 | 20,8-23,0 | 21,9 |
| R. t. alpinus (after: Cramp, 1985) | |||||||||
| males | 6 | 126-133 | 129,0 | 14 | 31,0-36,0 | 32,8 | 5 | 21,0-23,0 | 21,8 |
| females | 15 | 124-129 | 128,0 | 13 | 28,0-32,0 | 30,2 | 4 | 18,0-20,0 | 19,1 |
Moult
In general, the types of outfits and the sequence of their change are similar to the species of the genus Dendrocopos. In adult birds, there is one complete post-breeding molt per year, occurring from July to October; the duration of the molt of males is 2-3 weeks longer than that of females. Primary primaries molt from mid-July to late August: the change of secondary primaries stretches until September-October. The order of their molting is from X to I. However, the simultaneous change of X and VII flight feathers is not uncommon. The sequence for changing tail feathers: 2-3-6, 5-1-1 or 2-6-3, 4-5-1. The second tail feather falls out simultaneously with the VI feather, the central pair of rudders - with III and I. The secondary feathers shed from the 8th or 9th feather in both directions. These feathers fall out at the same time as the second helmsman. The change of plumage on the head and body begins simultaneously with the change of the 6th flight feather (July) and ends by September-October.
Underyearlings undergo a partial post-juvenile molt. Primary flight feathers, like many other woodpeckers, begin to change even in the hollow before departure: their change stretches until the first decade of September, sometimes until mid-October. The tail molt takes 48 days, ending in September - early November (Gladkov, 1951; Stresemann and Stresemann, 1966; Piecholski, 1968; Ruge, 1969).
Subspecies taxonomy
Within the range of the species, 8-10 subspecies are distinguished (Volchanetsky, 1940; Gladkov, 1951; Vaurie, 1965; Short, 1974; Bock and Bock, 1974; Stepanyan, 1990). Intraspecific variability is expressed in the variation, first of all, in the abundance of transverse streaks on the lower part of the body, the degree of development of the black pattern on the light parts of the plumage of the sides of the head and neck, the bottom of the belly and light back, as well as the white pattern on the flight and tail feathers, in varying the length of the lanceolate tip the yellow cap feathers of the males and the degree or discontinuity of the light stripes under this yellow tip of the trimming feather. The pattern of the head, wings and tail is the most stable. On the sides of the head, only the ratio of the width of the black stripes and white gaps between them changes - from a very narrow “mask” in P. t. albidior and P. t. dorsalis to very narrow gaps in southern mountain forms (P. t. alpinus, P. t. bacatus); in P. t. tianschanicus and P. t. funebris, the white facial stripes are even interrupted in places.
The brow lumen at the same time narrows more than the infraorbital. In the same row, the width of the black transverse stripes on the outer tail feathers also increases, and the feathers of the dorsal pteryla darken centripetally. The degree of development of spotting of the chest and lower body is minimal in albidior, subspecies crissoleucus, dorsalis, tridactylus, fasciatus occupy an intermediate position in that order; the lower body is even darker in alpinus, bacatus and tianschanicus. This row is closed by the darkest Western Chinese form P. t. funebris. In the same row, the degree of development of longitudinal streaks increases to the detriment of the transverse ones, which are less and less pronounced. The latter are most strongly developed in the American subspecies, which brings them closer to a close species - the black-backed three-toed woodpecker (P. arcticus), which does not have distinct longitudinal streaks in the lower body at all. The linear dimensions also vary, reaching a maximum in northeastern Asia (Volchanetsky, 1940; Short, 1974; Bock and Bock, 1974).
Within the territory of former USSR there are 5 subspecies (descriptions are given according to: Stepanyan, 1990).
1. Picoides tridactylus tridactylus
Picus tridactylus Linnaeus, 1758. Syst. Natur. cd.10, p.114. Sweden, Uppsala.
The white coloration on the back, lower part of the body, and undertail coverts is less developed; the outer tail feathers have a more developed black transverse pattern; the black pattern on the lower body (longitudinal on the chest and transverse on the sides of the belly) is more developed than in P. t. crissoleucus. With the latter form, it intergrades along the meridian of the Ural Mountains, in Western Siberia - along the 57th parallel, then along the line Novosibirsk - the northern part of the Eastern Sayan - the northern parts of the Baikal and Transbaikalia - Stanovoy Ridge - Ayan, covering the range of this form from the west and south.
2. Picoidees tridactylus crissoleucus
Apternus crissoleucus Rcichcnbach, 1854. Die vollstandigc Naturgcsch., abt. 2, Vogel, 3, Synopsis Avium, pt.6, continuatio 12, Scansoriae Picinac, pp. 1187–1199.
The white coloration on the back, lower part of the body, and lower tail coverts is more developed; Within the range of the form, there is a developed clinal variability - from west to east, the birds become brighter, and the black pattern on the underside of the body and tail feathers is reduced. This tendency is maximally manifested in the Ayan and Anadyr birds, approaching P. t. albidior, with which the crissoleucus form intergrades in the territory of the Parapolsky dol and the Penzhina basin (Kishchinsky and Lobkov, 1979).
3. Picoides tridactylus albidior
Picoides albidior Stcjnegccr, 1888, Proc. U.S. Nation. Mus., II, p. 168, Kamchatka.
The lightest race. Underparts, undertail coverts and outer tail pair are pure white. The black pattern of the lower body is not developed. The white spots on the feathers are larger than in previous races.
4. Picoides tridactylus alpinus
Picoides alpinus C. L. Brchm, 1831, Handbuch Naturgesch. Vogel Dcutschlands, p.194. Switzerland.
Darker than the nominate race. The transverse pattern of the extreme helmsmen and the pattern of the lower body are more developed. White coloration on the back, belly, tail coverts is less developed.
5. Picoides tridactylus tianschanicus
Picoides tianschhanicus Buturlin, 1907. Omithol. Monatsber., 15, p. 9, Tien Shan.
Close to alpinus, differing in even more limited distribution of white on the back, somewhat greater white spotting of the upper tail coverts, a darker yellow “cap” in males, and the absence of a transverse pattern on the sides of the body in young birds. The black color of the "whiskers", the pattern of the lower body and tail feathers is as strongly developed as in alpinus.
Entirely outside the territory under consideration, in Eurasia also live: P. t. kurodai - Manchuria, Korea (6); P.t. inouei - about. Hokkaido (7); P. t funebris - mountains of Western China (8).
Notes on systematics
Sometimes it is proposed to distinguish an isolated and markedly different morphological race funebris into an independent species. The races tianschhanicus, kurodai, and inouei are not recognized by all taxonomists; they are often included in the subspecies alpinus, which is understood very widely, and is distributed south of the nominative form in a latitudinal direction from Europe to Japan. The subspecies P. t. described from Sakhalin. sakhalinensis, was also recognized as invalid by L.S. Stepanyan (1975, 1990) and V.A. Nechaev (1991), this name is considered a synonym for the nominative form. Based on recent molecular studies, three North American races of the three-toed woodpecker - dorsalis, fasciatus, and bacatus - are proposed to be separated into an independent species: the American three-toed woodpecker (Picoides dorsalis Baird, 1858). This decision is supported in some recent reports (Hanp. Winkler, Christie, 2002).
Spreading
D unfriendly area. The nesting area of the three-toed woodpecker occupies a vast area of the Holarctic coniferous forest zone. In North America, the species is distributed from Alaska in the west to Labrador, Quebec, Newfoundland in the east. The northern boundary runs along northern Alaska, northern Yukon, the lower Mackenzie, the Great Slave Lake, northern Manitoba, northern Labrador, and Newfoundland. To the south, it is distributed to eastern Nevada, central Arizona, New Mexico, Minnesota, Ontario, northern New York and New England (Fig. 102).
Figure 102.
a - nesting area. Subspecies: 1 - P. t. tridactylus, 2 - P. t. crissoleucos, 3 - P. t. albidior, 4 - P. t. alpinus, 5 - P. t. tianschanicus, 6 - P. t. kurodai, 1 - P. t. inouei, 8 - P. t. funebris, 9 - P. t. fuscialus, 10 - P. t. bacatus, 11 - P. t. dorsalis.
In Eurasia, the range covers the territory from Scandinavia, the Alps, Yugoslavia, Northern Greece, Bulgaria to the middle reaches of the Anadyr River, the Koryak Highlands, Kamchatka, the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan, northeast Korea, the northern part of about. Hokkaido. To the north to the 70th parallel in Norway, in Finland to 68 ° N. On the Kola Peninsula, the northern boundary of the range runs along the northern limit of the forest zone from the mouth of p. Cola to the throat of the White Sea (breeds on the Solovetsky Islands), on the Kanin Peninsula it goes approximately along the Arctic Circle to the southern coast of the Cheshskaya Bay. In the Pechora valley and in the middle reaches of the river. Mustache it runs along the 67th parallel, on Yamal in the middle reaches of the river. Khadytayakha and the north of Western Siberia along the 67-68th parallel, on the Yenisei - up to the 69th parallel (Norilsk Lakes, Putorana Plateau) (Krechmar, 1966; Ivanov, 1976; Estafiev, 1977; Rogacheva et al., 1978; Zyryanov, Larin, 1983; Danilov et al., 1984; Stepanyan, 1990; Semyonov-Tyan-shansky and Gilyazov, 1991; Romanov, 1996, 2003; Anufriev and Demetriades, 1999; Ryabitsev, 2001) (Fig. 103).
Figure 103.
a - nesting area, b - unexplained border of the nesting range, c - bird meeting area during autumn-winter migrations, d - vagrants, e - cases of nesting outside the range. Subspecies: 1 - P. t. tridactylus, 2 - P. t. crissoleucos, 3 - P. t. albidior, 4 - P. t. alpinus, 5 - P. t. tianschanicus.
Further to the east, the northern boundary of the range has been clarified very incompletely, especially in Central Siberia. To the Lena Valley in the east, it goes along the 68th parallel, in the Lena Valley to 69 ° N. (meetings are known 70 km northeast of the village of Kyusyur, lying on the 70th parallel); in the Indigirka basin up to the 70th, Kolyma - up to the 68th parallel. Further, the boundary of the range turns to the south, covering the basin of the middle Anadyr to the north to the 65-66th parallel and limiting the Koryak highlands from the north and east. Lives in Kamchatka, Parapolsky Dol and in the Penzhina basin (Kapitonov, 1962; Uspensky et al., 1962; Ivanov, 1976; Kishinsky, Lobkov, 1979; Kishinsky, 1980; Lobkov, 1986; Stepanyan, 1990; data from P. S. Tomkovich ).
Further, the border descends along the coast of the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk, capturing the Shantar Islands and Sakhalin south to the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk; further along the coast of the Sea of Japan. The details of distribution in the Ussuri region have not been fully studied. K. V. Vorobyov (1954) notes the nesting of the three-toed woodpecker only to the south of Sikhote-Alin (43 ° 30′ N). Breeds in northeastern Korea, but not found in southern Primorye (Nazarenko, 1971a; Panov, 1973; Nechaev, 1991). Probably, in Primorye it is distributed only in places of growth of fir-spruce forests of the Okhotsk type, as a result of which the range has a complex configuration.
The southern border of the species range within the former USSR runs from Belovezhskaya Pushcha (an isolated section of the range is found in the Ukrainian Carpathians - Strautman, 1954, 1963) through Pinsk, Gomel region, the southern part of Smolensk, Kaluga, possibly north of Tula, south of Moscow, northeast of Ryazan , north of Tambov, Penza and Ulyanovsk regions. Breeds sporadically in Mordovia, Chuvashia, in the south of the Republic of Mari El and in the north of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Further, the border comes to the basin of the Belaya River in Bashkiria. In Bashkiria, the range has a large ledge to the south through the mountain forests of the Urals to the Bashkir Reserve. Recently a three-toed woodpecker was found nesting in Lithuania, where it was previously absent; not recorded in the Kaliningrad region. The species is supposed to nest in the Bryansk region, in the north of the Oryol and Lipetsk regions. Flights recorded in Kursk, Voronezh, Samara and Orenburg regions (Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967; Ptushenko, Inozemtsev, 1968; Popov et al., 1977; Kuleshova, 1978; Zinoviev, 1985; Ilyichev, Fomin, 1988; Stepanyan, 1990; Fridman , 1990a; Tomialojc, 1990; Ivanchev, 1991, 1996, 1998; Grishanov, 1994; Borodin, 1994; Key..., 2000; Sokolov and Lada, 2000; Lapshin and Lysenkov, 2001; Ryabitsev, 2001).
In Western Siberia, the southern boundary of the range runs approximately along 55°N; however, the species is known to occur during nesting time in Northern Kazakhstan near the village. Suvorovka (52°N). To the east, the border shifts south along the right bank of the Irtysh and, covering Altai and the Markakol basin from the south, goes beyond the borders of the former USSR, passing through northern Mongolia (the southern slopes of Khangai and Kentei), the southern part of the Greater Khingan, the south of Heilujian province (PRC) to the north east of the Korean Peninsula. An isolated part of the range is located in South Gansu, North and West Sichuan, East and South Qinhai (Cramp, 1985; Stepanyan, 1990).
In Eastern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the range is divided by spaces not covered with mountain spruce forests into 3 isolated areas. The three-toed woodpecker nests in the coniferous forests of Saur, Dzungarian Alatau and the eastern Tien Shan. In the Dzungarian Alatau, it is distributed from islets of spruce forests on the southern slopes of the ridge. Alty-Emel in the west to the upper reaches of the river. Terekty (a tributary of the Lepsy) in the east along the coniferous forests of the northern slope. In the Zailiysky Alatau, it inhabits all coniferous forests up to the upper reaches of the river. Kaskelenki in the west. In Kyrgyzstan, along the Kungei-Alatau and Terskey-Alatau ridges, along the river basin. Chon-Kemin, Naryn ridge to the south to the ridge. Atbashi. Absent in Western and Central Tien Shan, as well as in Tarbagatai (Yanushevich et al., 1960; Gavrin, 1970; Shukurov, 1986).
Migrations
Not studied within the former USSR. It is known that in Scandinavia the birds are sedentary or wander irregularly. In the northern taiga of European Russia and Siberia, in autumn, the main part of the populations migrates to the south, and individuals of the southern populations are obviously sedentary. Sometimes migrations turn into invasions and birds appear in large numbers on the southern limits of distribution or even outside the nesting range (Rogacheva, 1988; Vartapetov, 1998; Anufriev, Demetriades, 1999). In the European part of Russia, three-toed woodpeckers were recorded in the Kaluga, Tula, Kursk, and Voronezh regions in the autumn-winter period. A number of researchers have noted periodic nesting south of the range boundary, which can become permanent and thereby expand the range after species invasions; this is how the range of the woodpecker expanded in the Moscow region in 1992-1995. (Kuleshova, 1978; Komarov, 1984; data by V.V. Kontorshchikov).
It is possible that these cases of nesting were the result of winter movements of the species and the fixation of some individuals on wintering grounds. At the same time, no migration of the three-toed woodpecker was recorded during long-term mass captures of birds on the Curonian Spit and in the Pskov region (Paevsky, 1971; Meshkov and Uryadova, 1972). Siberian populations of the three-toed woodpecker migrate to the forest-steppe zone (sometimes with subsequent nesting), periodically developing into invasions (Chernyshov, Bakurov, 1980). According to these authors, in the area of Lake. M. Chany, autumn invasions of the three-toed woodpecker were noted in 1972, 1975, 1976. The most massive invasion was recorded in September-October 1975. All caught birds turned out to be underyearlings of the nominative subspecies.
habitat
In most of its range, the three-toed woodpecker inhabits mainly coniferous forests of the taiga type, overgrown burnt areas, silkworms with a large number of dead and drying trees. Willingly settles on the edges of coniferous forests with a windblow, on the outskirts of ryams; in small-leaved forests of river valleys, it lives only in the north of its range. In autumn and winter, as a result of migrations, it occurs in unusual habitats: in deciduous forests, settlements, tundra bushes.
For nesting, birds most prefer the combination of dark coniferous taiga with burnt areas, clearings, or sparse pine forests on raised bogs; in the Kirov region, on the outskirts of the swamps, woodpeckers inhabit even small curtains of oppressed pine forest. The littering of the forest, the abundance of dead and drying trees is especially important for gathering food. Oppressed pine forests on raised bogs are less optimal (in pine forests on dry soils it nests only sporadically), larch forests and cedar forests. Inhabits the species and mountain spruce forests, rising with them to the forest boundary (forms P. t. alpinus and Pt. tianschanicus). On the northeastern and southern margins of the range, it can nest in chozen forests or in birch-aspen groves, but these habitats are clearly suboptimal, although hollowing out of hollows in small-leaved species has been noted throughout the range (Short, 1974; Bock, Bock, 1974; Ruge, 1974; Hess, 1983; Chernyshov and Bakurov, 1980; Ivanchev, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1998; Fetisov and Ilyinsky, 1993; Fridman, 1996; Sotnikov, 2002).
In the Carpathians, P. t. alpinus lives in old and dark tall spruce forests, preferring areas with dry and dead top trees. It rises to the upper border of the forest (1600 m); the lower limit of the heights inhabited by it is 650-1500 m. During the period of nomadism, it moves to valleys and foothills (Strautman, 1954, 1963; Talposh, 1972).
In Western Siberia, the habitats of the species are somewhat different. The boundary of the ranges of subspecies P. t. tridactylus and P. t. crissoleucus generally coincides with the vicariate zone of Picea europaea and P. obovata (Volchanetskii, 1940). In the Ob valley in the subzone of the northern taiga, the three-toed woodpecker prefers undersized ryams, in the middle taiga - floodplain and mixed willow forests, in the southern taiga - mixed semi-flooded forests, interfluve ryams and floodplain willow forests. In the interfluves of Western Siberia, it is most common in moss pine forests and low-growing ryams (northern taiga), in pine forests and clearings in the middle taiga, in mixed and small-leaved forests in the southern taiga. In the Irtysh region, it inhabits dark coniferous taiga and mixed forests of the river valley (Gyngazov, Milovidov, 1977; Ravkin, 1978; Vartapetov, 1984). In Altai, it lives mainly in mid-mountain dark coniferous forests, in mixed larch-birch forests, fir-cedar plantations. At the end of summer and autumn, some birds descend into coniferous, mixed, and even aspen forests in the foothills. In winter, it occurs only in the taiga middle mountains (Ravkin, 1973).
On the northern limit of the range in Eastern Siberia, it occupies valley mixed and deciduous forests. In the Kharaulakh Ridge it occurs in chozenia-larch forests, in the lower reaches of the Kolyma - in larch forests and urems, in the Anadyr basin and on the Koryak Highlands - in poplar, birch and willow forests of river floodplains (Gladkov, 1951; Spangenberg, 1960; Kapitonov, 1962; Kishchinsky , 1980). In Evenkia and Yakutia, the three-toed woodpecker is distributed in dark coniferous, larch and mixed forests (Vorobiev, 1963; Vakhrushev and Vakhrusheva, 1987; Borisov, 1987). In Transbaikalia it is found in all types of forest; prefers dark coniferous taiga and old burnt areas. On the Vitim Plateau inhabits larch, pine and mixed forests, occasionally - river urema (Izmailov, 1967; Izmailov, Borovitskaya, 1973).
In Kamchatka, it inhabits tall forests of various types, prefers dark coniferous and mixed forests, is very rare or absent in birch forests. On Sakhalin, it breeds in flat, mountain coniferous and coniferous-birch forests. Inhabits mainly spruce, spruce-birch and larch forests, larch forests with elfin cedar, spruce-fir forests with larch and white birch. Three-toed woodpeckers nest most readily in larch forests. In Primorye, the species is closely associated with the mountain taiga of Ayan spruce and white fir. It is rare in forests with cedar and does not nest every year. In autumn and winter, it penetrates into the cedar-broad-leaved forests of the valleys, stone birch forests and the belt of elfin cedar forests (Vorobiev, 1954; Gizenko, 1955; Bromley and Kostenko, 1974; Nazarenko, 1984; Lobkov, 1986; Nechaev, 1991).
population
On the territory of the former USSR, the number of three-toed woodpeckers has not been studied enough. The secret way of life and sporadic distribution make it difficult to quantify this species. In most publications, the number of three-toed woodpeckers is characterized only verbally, by a general assessment. The species is most common in the coniferous forests of the northern and middle taiga. To the borders of the range, the number decreases, especially sharply near its southern limits. Here, the distribution of the species has a mosaic character, and nesting is irregular. In the middle taiga of Karelia (reserve "Kivach"), the average density in nesting time was from 1.6 to 6, and in some years in optimal habitats up to 16 individuals/km2. In winter, the abundance of the species here, on average, is 2.7 individuals/km2; in North Karelia - 0.01-0.04 individuals per 1 km of the route (Ivanter, 1962, 1969; Zakharova, 1991; Zimin et al., 1993).
In the northern taiga of the Arkhangelsk region, the population density of the three-toed woodpecker ranged from 0.4 to 0.6 individuals/km2, only in some habitats did it reach 0.7-2.6 individuals/km2 (Sevastyanov, 1964; Korneeva et al., 1984; Rykova, 1986). Similar indicators of the abundance of the species are also typical for the basin of the river. Pechora, western slopes of the Northern and Subpolar Urals: in dark coniferous forests from 0.3 to 4.6 and in pine forests - 1.4–15 individuals / km2 (Rubenstein, 1976; Estafiev, 1977, 1981; Anufriev, 1999). In Ukhta in winter, the density is 0.1 ind./km2 (Demetriades, 1983).
In the Middle Urals, the population density in various forest types ranges from 0.6 to 0.9 ind./km2, reaching 2.7 ind./km2 in pine forests (in some types of forests, the species was not found in some years). In winter, the recorded level of population density is not more than 0.3 individuals/km2 (Korovin, 1982).
In the west of the European part of the former USSR, the abundance of the species is lower. In the northwest, this species is definitely rare. In the Leningrad region, it is distributed unevenly and does not nest annually, only in the northeast of the region up to 5 individuals per 10 km of the route are noted (Malchevsky, Pukinsky, 1983). In Belarus, it is noted only in separate points, but in the spruce forests of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the abundance is 0.1-2.2 individuals / km2 (Fedyushin, Dolbik, 1967; Vladyshevsky, 1975). In the mountain coniferous forests of the Carpathians, there are few - 0.2-1.3 individuals / km2 (Strautman, 1963; Vladyshevsky, 1975).
In the European Center of Russia, the three-toed woodpecker is rare almost everywhere, however, in some areas, especially in the southern taiga, it is common. Thus, in mixed forests and nemoral spruce forests of the Central Forest Reserve, the density during nesting time is 1-2.5 individuals/km2; in the spruce-linden forests of the Kirov region - up to 11 individuals / km2. In the east of the Vologda Oblast, it is 1.3 ind./km2 (post-breeding period), in the nesting season in the center of this area it is usually less than 1 ind./km2, however, in fresh clearcuts with undercuts, the density in places can reach 18 or more ind./km2; in winter, no more than 1 individual/km2 was recorded in spruce forests. In Moscow and adjacent regions, the average density usually does not exceed 0.6-1 individuals/km2, although in some places it can be higher (Korenberg, 1964; Ptushenko, Inozemtsev, 1968; Butiev, 1972, 1986; Izmailov et al., 1974; Spangenberg , 1972; Zinoviev, 1985; Avdanin, Buivolov, 1986; Izmailov, Salnikov, 1986; Fridman, 1990). The species is very rare in the south of the range, where it is tied to isolated massifs of mature spruce forests - in Tambov, Ulyanovsk regions, Mordovia, Udmurtia, Bashkiria (Lugovoi, 1975; Nazarova, 1977; Shchegolev, 1981; Borodin, 1994). In the northern taiga of Western Siberia, the three-toed woodpecker prefers dark coniferous and, especially, pine forests and clearings, its abundance here is 0.3-2 individuals / km2; in the Yenisei middle taiga, it ranges from 0.6 to 3 individuals/km2 in dark coniferous forests and 0.5 individuals/km2 in pine forests; in the Lower Angara region, 0.2 and 0.3 individuals/km2, respectively (Vartapetov, 1984; Ravkin, 1984).
In Central Siberia, in the forest landscape of the Putarana Plateau, the abundance of the three-toed woodpecker in different types of forests is 0.1-1 individuals / km2 (Romanov, 1999), in the region of the Central Siberian Reserve, the abundance of this species in the nesting time was 2.3-2.6 individuals / km2, in winter - 0.6 individuals / ha (Rogacheva et al., 1988). It is common on the Salair Ridge - in the deep parts of the taiga, the density is 3.2 individuals / km2 (Chunihin, 1965). In winter, it is also common on the Middle Lena (Sidorov, 1983). In the forests of the Barguzinsky Reserve, the population density of the species ranges from 0.3 in pine forests to 8.3 ind./km2 in floodplain mixed forests and 5.4 ind./km2 in clearcut areas. On the Vitim plateau, the woodpecker abundance was 0.2-0.3 individuals/km2 in larch and pine forests (Ananin, 1986; Izmailov, 1967). In the south of Central Siberia, in some years, foci of high density of the species appear locally: at the end of June 1984, the density of the three-toed woodpecker on the old burnt area reached 26.3 individuals / km2; in the southern dark coniferous taiga, on average, there are 2.3-3.7 individuals / km2 (Polushkin, 1980). In the transitional forests of Primorye from mixed to dark coniferous forests, the density reaches 4.4–6.4 individuals / km2, in spruce-fir forests - 2.8-3.6 pairs / km2 (Bromley, Kostenko, 1974; Kuleshova, 1976; Nazarenko, 1984). In Kamchatka, the average density of the three-toed woodpecker is 13.6 individuals/km2 in a spruce forest, in mixed forests 1.6, in stone-birch forests - 1-1.8 individuals/km2, the maximum abundance in some areas is up to 30 individuals/km2 (Lobkov, 1986).
reproduction
Daily activity, behavior
Typical day view. Details of daily activity have not been studied. In Siberia, during cold snaps, it spends the night under the snow (Zonov, 1982).
He is practically not afraid of a person, letting him in at 5 m or less (Suffer, 1951), but ruffles the feathers of his cap when he appears and utters a contact cry or a cry of discontent. At the same time, the bird tries to hide behind a tree trunk, and not fly away. A heavily disturbed woodpecker softly taps on the trunk; males also stretch their necks up. When a person is found at the nest, adult birds emit excited cries, in the event of the appearance of predators, they quietly hide (Ruge, 1974; Sollein et al., 1982; Cramp, 1985).
The woodpecker rarely forms interspecific associations with tits: in the Darwin Reserve it is noted only in 0.8% of flocks in autumn and in 1.8% in winter (Polivanov, 1971).
Food
Of all the woodpeckers of Northern Eurasia, the three-toed woodpecker is morphologically the most specialized for year-round feeding on xylophagous larvae of coniferous trees obtained by chiselling (Poznanin, 1949; Spring, 1965). Food is uniform throughout the range.
In Karelia and the Arkhangelsk region, it feeds on the larvae of Cerambycidae (75% of encounters) and Scolytidae (55% of encounters) beetles. One stomach contained 269 larvae and adults of Polygraphus polygraphus and Pissoides pinus (Scolytidae and Curculionidae, Neifeldt, 19586; Sevastyanov, 1959). In the stomachs of 3 woodpeckers caught in the Leningrad Region, the larvae of bark beetles and woodcutters accounted for 93.1% of all food items (Prokofieva, 2002).
In Eastern Siberia, birds eat mainly beetle larvae Buprestidae (12.5% of encounters), Cerambycidae (62.5-75% of encounters), Ipidae (18.8-30.6% of encounters), as well as horntail larvae (16.7 -18.8% of meetings). In summer, it occasionally also eats larvae of Scarabaeidae, Elateridae, Chrysomelidae beetles (2.2-5.6% of encounters), spiders, beetle adults Curculionidae, Chrysomelidae, and bedbugs (2.8-8.6% of encounters). Caterpillars are common in all seasons, mainly Tortricidae and Geometridae (8.3-18.8% of occurrences), as well as wood borers (Cossidae). Cycads, lacewings, earth fleas, mollusks and ants are singly represented in the diet (less than 6.2% of meetings) (Verzhutsky et al., 1974; Sirokhin, 1984; Cramp, 1985). In summer, the proportion of open-living insects in the diet increases (Formozov et al., 1950).
Of vegetable feed in a small amount year-round eats berries of mountain ash, blueberries, lingonberries, elderberries (up to 2.8% of the volume of food). in Eastern Siberia and Far East in autumn and at the end of summer it often eats the seeds of Pinus sibirica, P coraiensis, extracting them from cones. It also eats P. sylvestris seeds in all seasons (2.8-12.5% of encounters) (Formozov, 1976; Sirokhin, 1984).
The nutrition of chicks is similar to that of adult birds: these are larvae of bark beetles and barbels. In the diet, the proportion of caterpillars and flies, as well as aphids, is increased. Adult birds may bring clumps of plant sap to the nest (Cramp, 1985).
Foraging on the ground is not typical. In spring and summer, the woodpecker rings the trees, hollowing out longitudinal grooves on the trunks, reaching the cambium. Birds return to ringed trees for a long time, feeding on their sap. In Eastern Siberia and Sakhalin, it feeds on fir and larch sap (Sirokhin, 1984; Cramp, 1985; Nechaev, 1991).