Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) [XC621769]
by Ireneusz Oleksik from Provincial Domain Nieuwenhoven (near Sint-Truiden), Limburg, Vlaanderen, Belgium (call)
Middle Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocoptes medius) [XC777504]
by Marcin So\u0142owiej from Arrondissement de Foug\u00e8res-Vitr\u00e9 (near Ch\u00e2teaubourg), Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France (call)
Subspecies
Superficial similarity to White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos) may suggest possible relationship, although this not supported by available genetic data. May be related to Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos macei) superspecies, but there is little evidence. Variation is largely clinal. Other named subspecies are lilianae (north-western Spain), splendidior (south-eastern Europe to Greece and Turkey) and laubmanni (southern Transcaucasia), all regarded as unacceptable.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
medius (Linnaeus, 1758) - North-western Spain and France north-east to southern Sweden (recently extinct), Estonia, western Russia and Ukraine, and south-east to Italy and the Balkans.
caucasicus Bianchi, 1905 - Northern Turkey, Caucasus and Transcaucasia; probably this subspecies in north-western Iran.
anatoliae (Hartert, 1912) - Western and southern Asia Minor.
sanctijohannis (Blanford, 1873) - Zagros Mts in south-western Iran.