Woodpeckers of the World: December 2015

Thursday, 31 December 2015

2015 - a good woodpecker year

So the end of the year 2015 is upon us. It was a great year for me in my quest to observe, hear and learn more about woodpeckers and the places where they live. I saw several species I had not encounted before, and got many photos and sound recordings, for example in the Philippines and Vietnam. Here is one of my favourites Luzon Flameback Chrysocolaptes haematribon, taken near Subic Bay, Philippines, in January. Many thanks to all of you who contributed images to this blog. And here is to 2016 and more even woodpeckers (Gerard Gorman).

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.