''Dryobates'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of birds in the woodpecker family

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. ...

. The species are widely distributed and occur in both Eurasia and the Americas.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Dryobates'' was named by the German naturalist

Friedrich Boie Friedrich Boie (4 June 1789 – 3 March 1870) was a German entomologist, herpetologist, ornithologist, and lawyer.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Universi ...

in 1826 with the

downy woodpecker The downy woodpecker (''Dryobates pubescens'') is a species of woodpecker, the smallest in North America. Length ranges from . Downy woodpeckers primarily live in forested areas throughout the United States and Canada, with the exception of desert ...

(''Dryobates pubescens'') as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

. The genus name ''Dryobates'' is from the Greek compound word δρυο-βάτης : 'woodland walker'; from : ''drus'' (genitive : ''dryós'') meaning woodland and : ''-bátēs'' meaning walker. In the ''eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'', the genus ''Dryobates'' is expanded to include all the species in ''

Leuconotopicus ''Leuconotopicus'' is a genus of woodpeckers in the Family (biology), family Picidae native to North America, North and South America. Taxonomy The genus was erected by the French ornithologist Alfred Malherbe in 1845 with Strickland's woodpecke ...

'' and '' Veniliornis''. The genus contains the following species:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q12814087 Bird genera