Woodpeckers of the World: Picid In Focus: Buff-necked Woodpecker female

Thursday, 11 August 2011

Picid In Focus: Buff-necked Woodpecker female

This south-east Asian species Meiglyptes tukki is polytypic with five subspecies recognised: nominate tukki (very south of Myanmar, peninsula Thailand and Malaysia, Sumatra and some adjacent islands and northern Borneo), infuscatus (Nias Island off north-west Sumatra), batu (Batu Island, off western Sumatra), pulonis (Banggi Island, off northern Borneo) and percnerpes (southern Borneo). The sexes are very similar: male has a red malar stripe which female lacks. This female tukki race was snapped at Bukit Wang, Jitra, Kedah, Peninsula Malaysia, August 2011, Gerard Gorman.

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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.