Olive woodpecker

Last updated

Olive woodpecker
Olive Woodpecker, Sakania, DRC (12404103034), crop.jpg
D. g. subsp. persimilis
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Dendropicos
Species:
D. griseocephalus
Binomial name
Dendropicos griseocephalus
(Boddaert, 1783)
Olive woodpecker distribution map.svg
Geographic distribution shown in green
Synonyms

Chloropicus griseocephalus

The olive woodpecker (Dendropicos griseocephalus) is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

The olive woodpecker was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen obtained from the Cape of Good Hope area of South Africa. [3] The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. [4] Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Picus griseocephalus in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. [5] The olive woodpecker is now placed in the genus Dendropicos that was introduced by the French ornithologist Alfred Malherbe in 1849. [6] The generic name is from the Ancient Greek dendron meaning tree and pikos for woodpecker. The specific epithet griseocephalus combines the Medieval Latin griseus meaning "grey" and the Ancient Greek -kephalos meaning "-headed". [7]

Three subspecies are recognised: [8]

Distribution and habitat

The olive woodpecker is native to central, east and southern Africa, from the Ruwenzori Mountains to the Western Cape. It is found in Angola, Burundi, DRC, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The species occupies a range of wooded and forested habitats from 450–3,700 m (1,480–12,140 ft).

Related Research Articles

African grey woodpecker Species of bird

The African grey woodpecker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family Picidae. Is a widespread and frequently common resident breeder in much of Sub-Saharan and equatorial Africa. It is a species associated with forest and bush which nests in a tree hole, often in an oil palm, laying two to four eggs. It is a common bird with a very wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

White-naped woodpecker Species of bird

The white-naped woodpecker is woodpecker which is a widespread but a scarce breeder in the Indian Subcontinent. It is associated with open forest and scrub with some trees. It nests in a tree hole, laying one or two white eggs.

Checkered woodpecker Species of bird

The checkered woodpecker is a woodpecker found in eastern South America.

African pygmy kingfisher Species of bird

The African pygmy kingfisher is a small insectivorous kingfisher found in the Afrotropics, mostly in woodland habitats.

Great-billed parrot Species of bird

The great-billed parrot also known as Moluccan parrot or island parrot, is a medium-sized, approximately 38 cm long, green parrot with a massive red bill, cream iris, blackish shoulders, olive green back, pale blue rump and yellowish green underparts. The female is typically smaller than the male, but otherwise the sexes are similar.

Greater striped swallow Species of bird

The greater striped swallow is a large swallow that is native to Africa south of the equator.

Grey-breasted sabrewing Species of bird

The grey-breasted sabrewing is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae.

Violet-backed starling Species of bird

The violet-backed starling, also known as the plum-coloured starling or amethyst starling, is a relatively small species (17 cm) of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is the only member of the genus Cinnyricinclus. This strongly sexually dimorphic species is found widely in the woodlands and savannah forest edges of mainland sub-Saharan Africa. It is rarely seen on the ground, but instead found in trees and other locations away from the ground.

Amazonian barred woodcreeper Species of bird

The Amazonian barred woodcreeper is a species of bird in the Dendrocolaptinae subfamily, the woodcreepers. The northern barred woodcreeper was formerly included in this species. The Amazonian barred woodcreeper still includes the subspecies concolor, which sometimes is considered a separate species, the concolor woodcreeper.

Rufous-throated antbird Species of bird

The rufous-throated antbird is a species of bird in the family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

Fulvous shrike-tanager Species of bird

The fulvous shrike-tanager is a South American bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.

Helmeted pygmy tyrant Species of bird

The helmeted pygmy tyrant is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest.

Red-necked woodpecker Species of bird

The red-necked woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.

Nubian woodpecker Species of bird

The Nubian woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is distributed widely in Central and Eastern Africa, from Chad in west to Somalia in east and Tanzania in south. It is a fairly common species with a wide range, the population seems stable, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

Ringed woodpecker Species of bird

The ringed woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae that contains the woodpeckers, piculets, and wrynecks. It is found in northern Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and western Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical swamps.

Spot-breasted woodpecker Species of bird

The spot-breasted woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae. It is found in South America in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela and also in eastern Panama of Central America. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests and heavily degraded former forest.

Yellow-tufted woodpecker 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.

Yellow-throated woodpecker Species of bird

The yellow-throated woodpecker is a species of bird in the family Picidae, the woodpeckers, piculets, and wrynecks. It is found in northern and central South America in Brazil and the entire Amazon Basin; also in the Guianas, and Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. Besides the Amazon Basin, it is found in the southeast basin in the adjoining Tocantins-Araguaia River drainage; on the east at the edge of its range there, it only occurs in the headwaters of the Tocantins, then recontinues at the joining of the Araguaia-Tocantins as it goes to the Atlantic Ocean.

Acacia pied barbet Species of bird

The acacia pied barbet or pied barbet is a species of bird in the family Lybiidae which is native to southern Africa.

White-bellied seedsnipe Species of bird

The white-bellied seedsnipe is a species of bird in the Thinocoridae family. It is found in southwestern Argentina and Tierra del Fuego. It is a vagrant to the Falkland Islands, and its Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Dendropicos griseocephalus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22681023A92889848. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22681023A92889848.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Fuchs, J.; Pons, J. M. (2015). "A new classification of the pied woodpeckers assemblage (Dendropicini, Picidae) based on a comprehensive multi-locus phylogeny". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 88: 28–37. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.03.016. PMID   25818851.
  3. Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de (1780). "Pie a tête gris du Cap de Bonne-Espérance". Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux (in French). Vol. 13. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. p. 38.
  4. Buffon, Georges-Louis Leclerc de; Martinet, François-Nicolas; Daubenton, Edme-Louis; Daubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie (1765–1783). "Pie à tête gris, du Cap de Bonne-Esperance". Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle. Vol. 8. Paris: De L'Imprimerie Royale. Plate 786 Fig. 2.
  5. Boddaert, Pieter (1783). Table des planches enluminéez d'histoire naturelle de M. D'Aubenton : avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precedé d'une notice des principaux ouvrages zoologiques enluminés (in French). Utrecht. p. 49, Number 786 Fig. 2.
  6. Malherbe, Alfred (1849). "Nouvelle classification des picinée ou pics". Mémoires de l'Académie nationale de Metz (in French). 30: 316, 338.
  7. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  133, 179. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  8. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Woodpeckers". World Bird List Version 9.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 August 2019.