Melanerpes

Last updated

Melanerpes
Red-bellied Woodpecker-27527.jpg
Red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Tribe: Melanerpini
Genus: Melanerpes
Swainson, 1832
Type species
Picus erythrocephalus [1]
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text

Melanerpes is a genus of woodpeckers of the family Picidae found in the Americas. The 24 members of the genus are mostly colourful birds, conspicuously barred in black and white, with some red and yellow.

Contents

Taxonomy

The genus Melanerpes was introduced by the English ornithologist William John Swainson in 1832 to accommodate the red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus). [2] The generic name combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning "black" with herpēs meaning "creeper". [3] The genus forms part of the large tribe Melanerpini, which also includes the North American sapsuckers in the genus Sphyrapicus and the monotypic genus Xiphidiopicus containing only the Cuban green woodpecker (Xiphidiopicus percussus). [4]

Characteristics

Members of Melanerpes are small to medium-sized woodpeckers found exclusively in the New World. Some are West Indian endemics, and include species from Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Guadeloupe; one subspecies, the Grand Bahama West Indian woodpecker (M. superciliaris bahamensis) became extinct in the 1950s. The majority of the species are from Central and South America. [5] Most species are boldly marked in black and white, with some areas of red and yellow. [6] The beaks are long and pointed, and sometimes curved. The sexes differ in many species, both in colour and in size. [5]

Some species such as the acorn woodpecker and the yellow-tufted woodpecker are sociable, foraging in groups, communicating vocally and nesting communally. These have complex breeding systems including some non-breeding adult helpers assisting in rearing the young. Like other woodpeckers, insects form a large part of the diet, being caught on the wing in some species, but fruit is also eaten in large quantities and some species consume sap. They all nest in holes that they excavate in trees, and the red-crowned woodpecker and the Hoffmann's woodpecker are unusual in that they sometimes enter their holes backwards. [6]

Species

The genus includes 24 species: [7]

ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
White Woodpecker - Pantanal MG 8994 (16223107320).jpg White woodpecker Melanerpes candidusSuriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
Lewis's Woodpecker01.jpg Lewis's woodpecker Melanerpes lewiswestern and central United States
Pic de la Guadeloupe.jpg Guadeloupe woodpecker Melanerpes herminieriGuadeloupe archipelago
Puerto Rican Woodpecker - El Yunque.JPG Puerto Rican woodpecker Melanerpes portoricensisPuerto Rico
Red-headed Woodpecker at Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge (51252404030).jpg Red-headed woodpecker Melanerpes erythrocephalussouthern Canada and the east-central United States.
Acorn Woodpecker on black oak tree.jpg Acorn woodpecker Melanerpes formicivorusOregon, California, and the southwestern United States, south through Central America to Colombia.
Yellow-tufted Woodpecker - Ecuador S4E0834 (16408746681).jpg Yellow-tufted woodpecker Melanerpes cruentatusBolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
Melanerpes flavifrons1.jpg Yellow-fronted woodpecker Melanerpes flavifronsBrazil, Paraguay and far northeastern Argentina.
Golden-naped woodpecker.JPG Golden-naped woodpecker Melanerpes chrysauchenCosta Rica and western Panama
Melanerpes pulcher Carpintero bonito Beautiful Woodpecker (7493801558).jpg Beautiful woodpecker Melanerpes pulcherColombia.
Black-cheeked Woodpecker - Sarapiqui - Costa Rica MG 0197 (26073838593).jpg Black-cheeked woodpecker Melanerpes pucheranisoutheastern Mexico south to western Ecuador.
Melanerpes cactorum.jpg White-fronted woodpecker Melanerpes cactorumBolivia, Paraguay and Argentina.
Haitispecht Melanerpes striatus.JPG Hispaniolan woodpecker Melanerpes striatusHispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic)
Jamaican woodpecker (Melanerpes radiolatus) male.jpg Jamaican woodpecker Melanerpes radiolatusJamaica.
Golden-cheeked Woodpecker 2.jpg Golden-cheeked woodpecker Melanerpes chrysogenysMexico
Gray-breasted Woodpecker crop.jpg Grey-breasted woodpecker Melanerpes hypopoliussouthwestern Mexico.
Yucatan woodpecker (Melanerpes pygmaeus rubricomus)-female-Mexico-Yucatan-Celestun.jpg Yucatan woodpecker Melanerpes pygmaeusBelize and Mexico
Red-crowned Woodpecker (Melanerpes rubricapillus).jpg Red-crowned woodpecker Melanerpes rubricapillusCosta Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas and Tobago.
Gila Woodpecker (33927269121).jpg Gila woodpecker Melanerpes uropygialissouthwestern United States and western Mexico.
Hoffman's Woodpecker (male) - Flickr - Becky Matsubara.jpg Hoffmann's woodpecker Melanerpes hoffmanniisouthern Honduras south to Costa Rica
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (34799309292).jpg Golden-fronted woodpecker Melanerpes aurifronsTexas and Oklahoma in the United States through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and northern Nicaragua.
Velasquez's Woodpecker (27400844269).jpg Velasquez's woodpecker Melanerpes santacruzisouthern Mexico and parts of Central America.
Red-bellied Woodpecker (M. carolinus) male.JPG Red-bellied woodpecker Melanerpes carolinuseastern United States
West Indian Woodpecker - Cuba S4E0272 (16384535766).jpg West Indian woodpecker Melanerpes superciliarisBahamas, the Cayman Islands and Cuba.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Picinae</span> Subfamily of birds

Picinae containing the true woodpeckers is one of four subfamilies that make up the woodpecker family Picidae. True woodpeckers are found over much of the world, but do not occur in Madagascar or Australasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodpecker</span> Family of birds (Picidae)

Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specialises in exploiting cacti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acorn woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The acorn woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker with a length of around 20 cm (8 in), and an average weight of 85 g (3.0 oz). It is found across Central America, as well as North into the western United States and South into parts of Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-bellied woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The red-bellied woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker of the family Picidae. It breeds mainly in the eastern United States, ranging as far south as Florida and as far north as Canada. Though it has a vivid orange-red crown and nape it is not to be confused with the red-headed woodpecker, a separate species of woodpecker in the same genus with an entirely red head and neck that sports a solid black back and white belly. The red-bellied earns its name from the pale reddish tint on its lower underside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-breasted sapsucker</span> Species of bird

The red-breasted sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker of the forests of the west coast of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sapsucker</span> Genus of birds

The sapsuckers are species of North American woodpeckers in the genus Sphyrapicus.

<i>Dinopium</i> Genus of birds

Dinopium is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The species are found in South and Southeast Asia.

<i>Campephilus</i> Genus of birds

Campephilus is a genus of large American woodpeckers in the family Picidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis's woodpecker</span> Species of bird

Lewis's woodpecker is a large North American species of woodpecker which ornithologist Alexander Wilson named after Meriwether Lewis, one of the explorers who surveyed the areas bought by the United States of America as part of the Louisiana Purchase and first described this species of bird.

<i>Dryocopus</i> Genus of birds

Dryocopus is a genus of large powerful woodpeckers, typically 35–45 cm in length. It has representatives in North and South America, Europe, and Asia; some South American species are endangered. It was believed to be closely related to the American genus Campephilus, but it is part of a different lineage of woodpeckers altogether

<i>Colaptes</i> Genus of birds

Colaptes is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The 14 species are found across the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-cheeked woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The black-cheeked woodpecker is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found from Mexico south to Ecuador.

<i>Picus</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Picus is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family. It has representatives in Europe, Asia and North Africa. The genus name is Latin for "woodpecker". The genus Picus was erected by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ground woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The ground woodpecker is one of only three ground-dwelling woodpeckers in the world. It inhabits rather barren, steep, boulder-strewn slopes in relatively cool hilly and mountainous areas of South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini and has yet to be recorded outside of Southern Africa. It is found in a broad swath running from southwest to northeast, from the Cape Peninsula and Namaqualand to Mpumalanga. It is closely related to the woodpeckers of the genus Campethera, some of which also employ terrestrial foraging strategies.

<i>Campethera</i> Genus of birds

Campethera is a genus of bird in the family Picidae, or woodpeckers, that are native to sub-Saharan Africa. Most species are native to woodland and savanna rather than deep forest, and multiple species exhibit either arboreal or terrestrial foraging strategies. Its nearest relative is the monotypic genus Geocolaptes of southern Africa, which employs terrestrial foraging and breeding strategies. They are however not close relatives of similar-looking woodpeckers in the "Dendropicos clade".

<i>Dendropicos</i> Genus of birds

Dendropicos is a genus of woodpeckers in the family Picidae. They are small woodpeckers that are native to the sub-Saharan woodlands and forests.

<i>Meiglyptes</i> Genus of birds

Meiglyptes is a genus of Southeast Asian birds in the woodpecker family Picidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-tufted woodpecker</span> Species of bird

The yellow-tufted woodpecker is a species of woodpecker. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.

<i>Piculus</i> Genus of birds

Piculus is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae that are found in Central and South America.

<i>Celeus</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Celeus is a genus of bird in the woodpecker family, Picidae, found in tropical and subtropical forests and woodlands of Central and South America. The genus contains 13 extant species. One, Kaempfer's woodpecker, was believed to be extinct until a specimen was caught in 2006.

References

  1. "Picidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. Swainson, William John (1831). Richardson, John (ed.). Fauna boreali-americana, or, The zoology of the northern parts of British America : containing descriptions of the objects of natural history collected on the late northern land expeditions under command of Captain Sir John Franklin, R.N.: Part 2, The Birds. p. 316. The title page gives the date as 1831 but the volume was not actually published until the following year.
  3. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p.  140. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. Shakya, S.B.; Fuchs, J.; Pons, J.-M.; Sheldon, F.H. (2017). "Tapping the woodpecker tree for evolutionary insight". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 116: 182–191. Bibcode:2017MolPE.116..182S. doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.09.005 . PMID   28890006.
  5. 1 2 Winkler, Hans; Christie, David A. (2010). Woodpeckers. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 4. ISBN   978-1-4081-3504-4.
  6. 1 2 Gorman, Gerard (2014). Woodpeckers of the World: A Photographic Guide. Firefly Books. p. 102. ISBN   978-1770853096.
  7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Woodpeckers". World Bird List Version 6.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  8. Campbell, Kenneth E.; Bochenski, Zbigniew M. (2021-12-01). "A review of the woodpeckers (Aves: Piciformes) from the asphalt deposits of Rancho La Brea, California, with the description of three new species". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. 101 (4): 1013–1026. Bibcode:2021PdPe..101.1013C. doi: 10.1007/s12549-020-00444-1 . ISSN   1867-1608. S2CID   231716382.