Strakapoud prostřední (Dendrocopos medius) v jižních Čechách: historie a současnost.

Historical evidence of the occurrence of the Middle Spotted Woodpecker in South Bohemia is very scarce until the middle of the 20th century. A higher number of observations were obtained during the first Atlas mapping (1973-1977). The countryside around the towns of Třeboň and Hluboká nad Vltavou were identified as centres of occurrence of the species. Since then, the number of occupied sites and reported abundance have increased gradually, however, the picture of distribution and abundance of the species in particular regions of South Bohemia was not entirely clear. Therefore, I carried out systematic research of the species distribution in suitable breeding habitats throughout the whole territory of South Bohemia from 2010, but mainly during 2017-2019. I used playback of the males' territorial call. Moreover, I included data on the species in AVIF and NDOP databases in the period 2010-2019. I obtained a set of 200 records. The total estimate of the number of breeding pairs based on these results is ca. 400-500 pairs. The breeding sites were located mainly at an altitudes of 350 (the lowest altitude in South Bohemia) - 500 m, the highest altitude of confirmed breeding was 555 m. For the estimate of numbers in particular regions of South Bohemia see table 1. The main breeding habitats were broad-leaved forests with a substantial proportion of oaks (over ca. 25%) that are at least 80 years old. Other habitats include also chateau parks, game enclosures and pheasantries, fishpond dams with old oaks and alleys of old oaks in an open landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]