Melanerpes

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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 New World. 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 25 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.

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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. 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. doi: 10.1007/s12549-020-00444-1 . ISSN   1867-1608. S2CID   231716382.