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Woodpeckers
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. Members of this family are chiefly known for their characteristic behaviour. They mostly forage for insect prey on the trunks and branches of trees, and often communicate by drumming with their beaks, producing a reverberatory sound that can be heard at some distance. Some species vary their diet with fruits, birds' eggs, small animals, tree sap, human scraps, and carrion. They usually nest and roost in holes that they excavate in tree trunks, and their abandoned holes are of importance to other cavity-nesting birds. They sometimes co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pileated Woodpecker
The pileated woodpecker (''Dryocopus pileatus'') is a large, mostly black woodpecker native to North America. An insectivore, it inhabits deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes, the boreal forests of Canada, and parts of the Pacific Coast. It is the largest confirmed extant woodpecker species in North America, with the possible exception of the ivory-billed woodpecker, which the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed be reclassified as extinct. It is also the third largest species of woodpecker in the world, after the great slaty woodpecker and the black woodpecker. "Pileated" refers to the bird's prominent red crest, from the Latin meaning "capped". Taxonomy The English naturalist Mark Catesby described and illustrated the pileated woodpecker in his book ''The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'' which was published between 1729 and 1732. Catesby used the English name "The larger red-crested Wood-pecker" and the Latin ''Picu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picinae
Picinae containing the true woodpeckers is one of three 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. Woodpeckers gained their English name because of the habit of some species of tapping and pecking noisily on tree trunks with their beaks and heads. This is both a means of communication to signal possession of territory to their rivals, and a method of locating and accessing insect larvae found under the bark or in long winding tunnels in the tree or upright log. Physiology and behaviour Some woodpeckers and wrynecks in the order Piciformes have zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backward. These feet, though adapted for clinging to a vertical surface, can be used for grasping or perching. Several species have only three toes. The woodpecker's long tongue, in many cases as long as the woodpecker itself, can be darted forward to capture insects ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Picumninae
The piculets are a distinctive subfamily, Picumninae, of small woodpeckers which occur mainly in tropical South America, with just three Asian and one African species. Like the true woodpeckers, piculets have large heads, long tongues which they use to extract their insect prey and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backwards. However, they lack the stiff tail feathers that the true woodpeckers use when climbing trees, so they are more likely than their relatives to perch on a branch rather than an upright trunk. Their bills are shorter and less dagger-like than the true woodpeckers, so they look for insects and grubs mainly in decaying wood. Similarly, they re-use woodpecker holes for nesting, rather than making their own holes. The eggs are white, as with many hole nesters. Typically these birds have grey or dull green upperparts and dark-streaked white underparts. Systematics and evolution Although not well known from fossils, the evolution of piculets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piculet
The piculets are a distinctive subfamily, Picumninae, of small woodpeckers which occur mainly in tropical South America, with just three Asian and one African species. Like the true woodpeckers, piculets have large heads, long tongues which they use to extract their insect prey and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward, and two backwards. However, they lack the stiff tail feathers that the true woodpeckers use when climbing trees, so they are more likely than their relatives to perch on a branch rather than an upright trunk. Their bills are shorter and less dagger-like than the true woodpeckers, so they look for insects and grubs mainly in decaying wood. Similarly, they re-use woodpecker holes for nesting, rather than making their own holes. The eggs are white, as with many hole nesters. Typically these birds have grey or dull green upperparts and dark-streaked white underparts. Systematics and evolution Although not well known from fossils, the evolution of piculets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wryneck
The wrynecks (genus ''Jynx'') are a small but distinctive group of small Old World woodpeckers. ''Jynx'' is from the Ancient Greek ''iunx'', the Eurasian wryneck. These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads almost 180°. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display. It has occasionally been called "snake-bird" for that reason. Like the true woodpeckers, wrynecks have large heads, long tongues, which they use to extract their insect prey, and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward and two backwards,but they lack the stiff tail feathers that the true woodpeckers use when climbing trees, so they are more likely than their relatives to perch on a branch rather than an upright trunk. Wryneck's (Jynginae) sexes are similar. Their bills are shorter and less dagger-like than in the true woodpeckers, but their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or almost b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jynginae
The wrynecks (genus ''Jynx'') are a small but distinctive group of small Old World woodpeckers. ''Jynx'' is from the Ancient Greek ''iunx'', the Eurasian wryneck. These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads almost 180°. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display. It has occasionally been called "snake-bird" for that reason. Like the true woodpeckers, wrynecks have large heads, long tongues, which they use to extract their insect prey, and zygodactyl feet, with two toes pointing forward and two backwards,but they lack the stiff tail feathers that the true woodpeckers use when climbing trees, so they are more likely than their relatives to perch on a branch rather than an upright trunk. Wryneck's (Jynginae) sexes are similar. Their bills are shorter and less dagger-like than in the true woodpeckers, but their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or alm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gila Woodpecker
The Gila woodpecker (''Melanerpes uropygialis'') is a medium-sized woodpecker of the desert regions of the southwestern United States and western Mexico. In the U.S., they range through southeastern California, southern Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Description The back and wings of this bird are spotted and barred with a black and white zebra-like pattern. The neck, throat, belly and head are greyish-tan in color. The male has a small red cap on the top of the head. Females and juveniles are similar, but both lack the red cap of the adult male. White wing patches are prominent in flight. The dark tail has white bars on the central tail feathers. The birds range from in length. This woodpecker's voice is a rolling ''churr'' sound. It also makes a ''yip yip yip'' sound and a ''kee-u, kee-u, kee-u'' sound. Its drum is long and steady. Distribution & habitat This woodpecker's habitat consists of low desert scrub typical of the Sonoran Desert, as well as arroyos (washes) and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piciformes
Nine families of largely arboreal birds make up the order Piciformes , the best-known of them being the Picidae, which includes the woodpeckers and close relatives. The Piciformes contain about 71 living genera with a little over 450 species, of which the Picidae (woodpeckers and relatives) make up about half. In general, the Piciformes are insectivorous, although the barbets and toucans mostly eat fruit and the honeyguides are unique among birds in being able to digest beeswax (although insects make up the bulk of their diet). Nearly all Piciformes have parrot-like zygodactyl feet—two toes forward and two back, an arrangement that has obvious advantages for birds that spend much of their time on tree trunks. An exception are a few species of three-toed woodpeckers. The jacamars aside, Piciformes do not have down feathers at any age, only true feathers. They range in size from the rufous piculet at 8 centimetres in length, and weighing 7 grams, to the toco toucan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pici (taxon)
Pici is one of the two suborders of the order Piciformes and includes two infraorders Ramphastides (toucans and barbets) and Picides (honeyguides and woodpeckers). Members of this suborder are often called "true piciforms", as the jacamars of Galbulidae and puffbirds of Bucconidae (of the other piciform suborder Galbuli) were thought to be not closely related to toucans and woodpeckers, but instead to the order Coraciiformes. Sibley, Charles Gald & Ahlquist, Jon Edward (1990): ''Phylogeny and classification of birds''. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn. However, analysis of nuclear DNA in a 2003 study placed them as a sister group to the rest of the Piciformes, also showing that the groups had developed zygodactyl In biology, dactyly is the arrangement of digits (fingers and toes) on the hands, feet, or sometimes wings of a tetrapod animal. It comes from the Greek word δακτυλος (''dáktylos'') = "finger". Sometimes the ending "-dactylia" is use ... feet befor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galbuli
Galbuli is one of the two suborders of the order Piciformes and includes two families Bucconidae (puffbirds) and Galbulidae (jacamars). The other suborder Pici is a global group of piciforms, puffbirds and jacamars are only found in the Neotropics. Systematics It was thought the jacamars and puffbirds were not closely related to toucans and woodpeckers, but instead related to the order Coraciiformes. However, analysis of nuclear DNA in a 2003 study placed them as sister group to Pici, also showing that the groups had developed zygodactyl feet (two toes facing forward and two aft) before separating. Per Ericson and colleagues, in analysing genomic DNA, confirmed that puffbirds and jacamars were sister groups and their place in Piciformes. The lineage is sometimes elevated to order level as Galbuliformes, first proposed by Sibley and Ahlquist in 1990. Taxonomy The following arrangement of taxa is based on Witt (2004).Witt, C.C. (2004), Rates of Molecular Evolution and their Appli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toucan
Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over forty different species. Toucans are arboreal and typically lay 2–4 white eggs in their nests. They make their nests in tree hollows and holes excavated by other animals such as woodpeckers—the toucan bill has very limited use as an excavation tool. When the eggs hatch, the young emerge completely naked, without any down. Toucans are resident breeders and do not migrate. Toucans are usually found in pairs or small flocks. They sometimes fence with their bills and wrestle, which scientists hypothesize they do to establish dominance hierarchies. In Africa and Asia, hornbills occupy the toucans' ecological niche, an example of convergent evolution. Taxonomy and systematics The name of this bird group is derived from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honeyguide
Honeyguides (family Indicatoridae) are near passerine birds in the order Piciformes. They are also known as indicator birds, or honey birds, although the latter term is also used more narrowly to refer to species of the genus ''Prodotiscus''. They have an Old World tropical distribution, with the greatest number of species in Africa and two in Asia. These birds are best known for their interaction with humans. Honeyguides are noted and named for one or two species that will deliberately lead humans (but, contrary to popular claims, not honey badgers) directly to bee colonies, so that they can feast on the grubs and beeswax that are left behind. Description Most honeyguides are dull-colored, though some have bright yellow coloring in the plumage. All have light outer tail feathers, which are white in all the African species. The smallest species by body mass appears to be the green-backed honeyguide, at an average of , and by length appears to be the Cassin's honeyguide, at an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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