Woodpeckers of the World

Tuesday, 20 December 2016

Season's Greetings to Everyone

Adult male (Eurasian) Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) foraging in snow. Budapest, Hungary, Gerard Gorman.

Friday, 16 December 2016

Acorn Woodpecker and granary

Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus at its 'granary', a food storage site. Portal, Arizona, USA, 2014, Gerard Gorman.

Friday, 11 November 2016

Fernandina's Flicker female

Fernandina's Flicker Colaptes fernandinae. Endemic to Cuba, vulnerable and endangered. Pinar Del Rio, Western Cuba, March, Gerard Gorman.

Sunday, 23 October 2016

Holes (for nesting and/or roosting) made by Andean Flicker (Colaptes rupicola) in the mud brick wall of a house. In village in the Andes, Peru. October 2016. This highly terrestrial woodpecker rarely pecks in wood!

Sunday, 9 October 2016

Acorn Woodpecker female

Acorn Woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorus.
Arizona, USA, July 2014. This is a female, males have all of the crown red.

Sunday, 2 October 2016

Syrian Woodpecker posing

Syrian Woodpecker Dendrocopos syriacus posing on a wooden utility pole in a village in Hungary. September 2016, 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.