Woodpeckers of the World: Foraging signs of two woodpecker species

Friday 22 March 2019

Foraging signs of two woodpecker species

On the left, a thin tree stump worked on by Black Woodpecker Dryocopus martius. On the right, a spruce tree stripped of its bark by Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus in search of bark-beetles. Bialowieza NP Forest, Poland, March 2019. Many of the foraging signs that woodpeckers leave are difficult to assign to species but some, like these, are typical to each.

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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.