Great spotted woodpeckers have expanded into urban parks and gardens following increases in mature trees, but face novel welfare challenges in human-modified habitats.
Woodpeckers in areas with insufficient deadwood spend more energy searching for food and excavating nest cavities in sound wood, which is more energetically costly. Urban woodpeckers predating garden nest boxes cause welfare harms to the chicks they consume, though this is natural behaviour. Forestry management removing deadwood forces woodpeckers to travel further for food. Juvenile woodpeckers in their first winter face higher mortality in landscapes lacking sufficient deadwood foraging habitat. Competition for nest cavities from starlings and stock doves can cause woodpecker breeding failure.