The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is the smallest member of the Woodpecker family, like the Great Spotted and the Green Woodpecker. It can be found throughout England in deciduous woodlands, orchards, grasslands which have clusters of trees and shrubs and urban gardens with mature trees.

The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has a black back with white stripes running across it. Its throat, breast and tummy are an off-white colour with dark brown streaky stripes. The male can be recognised because it has a crimson-red patch on the top of its head. The female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has an off-white patch on the top of her head. Both the male and the female have an off-white coloured face with a black stripe above and below each eye. The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has a slate-black beak which is strong enough to make a hole in a tree for its nest.

Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers very rarely feed on the ground. They spend most of their time on branches and twigs high up in trees looking for insects. They also use their strong beaks to break wood to find insects and once the insects have been spotted they use their very long tongues to catch them. They also eat ants, flies, moths and sometimes pears.