Woodpeckers of the World: Habitats: Dying Spruce Forest

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Habitats: Dying Spruce Forest

This photo shows a dying mixed spruce-beech-fir forest. After a fire or an avalanche (as in this case), most beech trees fall and the damaged, broken standing spruces become infested with bark-beetles, especially Ips species. Such forests are major feeding habitat for woodpeckers, especially Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers which subsequently invade and breed in high densities. Photo taken in the Austrian Alps, April 2012, 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.