Citizen science and detailed searches reveal widespread occurrence of hybrid-like Syrian x Great-spotted woodpeckers

Abstract

The Syrian Woodpecker (hereafter SW) expansion into Europe since the end of the 19th century has enabled its hybridisation with the Great spotted Woodpecker (hereafter GW). This phenomenon, however, has generally been considered sporadic. Here, we examined the occurrence of mixed pairs and hybrids based on our own field observations and citizen science data. Interspecific pairs and individuals of SW and GW were found to be generally scarce but occurred in all parts of the area investigated, not only at the edges of the SWs range. The proportion of hybrid occurrence in woodpecker populations was found to be similar across the whole SWs range in Europe and in both urban and rural populations. However, on a local level, hybrids seemed to be more abundant in certain regions, for example, E Austria, Moravia, SE Poland, W Russia, S Ukraine, Bulgaria, E Greece and W Turkey. Generally, females were 1.4 times more frequent among hybrids. Three major phenotypical hybrid forms were identified: GW-like, SW-like, and intermediate, with first two forms being more frequent in the central and south of Europe respectively. Whereas proportion of the intermediate form was relatively constant across the whole range of hybrid occurrence. The results indicate that hybrids of the two species have become significant part of woodpecker populations and thus should be considered in research and nature conservation projects.