Woodpeckers of the World: The huge Great Slaty Woodpecker

Saturday, 24 August 2013

The huge Great Slaty Woodpecker

Great Slaty Woodpecker Mulleripicus pulverulentus. Cambodia, January 2013, by Neil Bowman. Presuming that the Imperial Woodpecker of Mexico is sadly extinct, this SE Asian species is the largest woodpecker on the planet at around 50cm in length.

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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.