Woodpeckers of the World: Picid in Focus: Red-breasted Sapsucker

Monday, 6 October 2014

Picid in Focus: Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted Sapsucker Sphyrapicus ruber. The sexes are very similar in plumage. Photo taken near Bend, Oregon, USA, in July 2014 by Gerard Gorman.

2 comments:

Johanna van de Woestijne6 October 2014 at 12:03
How do I add a photo? I wanted to show our variation of the RBSS from mid-peninsula San Francisco Bay Area, California, with the slight differences such as touch of white above eye, streakier breast, and slight white sap line (if I can call it that).
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Background

Woodpeckers, the Picidae, are Piciformes, an order that includes some of the oldest avian lineages. The Piciformes probably originated about 60 million years ago in the Tertiary period and became distinct from their closest relatives some 50 million years ago. Depending upon which taxonomy is followed, and the fact that the status of some species is unclear, around 240-260 woodpecker species probably exist globally. The Picidae includes three subfamilies: Jynginae (wrynecks), Picumninae (piculets) and the Picinae, the “true woodpeckers”. In terms of size, behaviour, distribution and the habitats they use, the Picinae are a fairly diverse group of birds with six distinct tribes. They are widespread and found from sea-level to high-altitudes but absent from the Arctic, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and some other islands. Worldwide woodpeckers are usually, but not exclusively, associated with trees.