Woodpeckers of the World: The Wryneck name

Thursday, 25 July 2013

The Wryneck name

There are two species of wryneck (Jynx) in the world. This Eurasian Wryneck J.torquilla is doing what wrynecks do, twisting its neck, hence the name. Photo by Yann Cambon, France, 2013.

2 comments:

Bill Benish26 July 2013 at 02:35
I have to imagine that most people know next to nothing about wrynecks, including me! Great photo.
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Gerard Gorman26 July 2013 at 12:37
Quite east to find in spring, when calling, in much of continental Europe.
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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.