Bill measurements aid sub-specific identification of Great Spotted Woodpeckers in Britain

Abstract

• Wing length has been used by researchers to separate the resident British subspecies of Great Spotted Woodpecker from migrants from Fennoscandia, though some degree of overlap exists with this character. In this study, specimens at National Museums of Scotland (NMS) show that bill shape aids subspecific identification, confirming that Fennoscandian birds do occur in Scotland andf urther south. To help develop datasets birdwatchers are encouraged to donate fresh corpses of Great Spotted Woodpeckers to NMS.