''Melanerpes'' 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 ...

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), 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 ...

s of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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. ...

found in the Americas. The 23 members of the genus are mostly colourful birds, conspicuously barred in black and white, with some red and yellow.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Melanerpes'' was introduced by the English ornithologist

William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

in 1832 to accommodate the

red-headed woodpecker The red-headed woodpecker (''Melanerpes erythrocephalus'') is a mid-sized woodpecker found in temperate North America. Its breeding habitat is open country across southern Canada and the east-central United States. It is rated as least concern ...

(''Melanerpes erythrocephalus''). The generic name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''melas'' meaning "black" with ''herpēs'' meaning "creeper". The genus forms part of the large

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

''Melanerpini'', which also includes the North American sapsuckers in the genus ''

Sphyrapicus The sapsuckers are species of North American woodpeckers in the genus ''Sphyrapicus''. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Sphyrapicus'' was introduced in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Fullerton Baird, Spencer Baird with the yellow-be ...

'' and the monotypic genus ''Xiphidiopicus'' containing only the

Cuban green woodpecker The Cuban green woodpecker (''Xiphidiopicus percussus'') is a species of woodpecker in the family Picidae and tribe Melanerpini, known locally in Cuban Spanish as carpintero verde (literally "green woodpecker"). It is the only species within the ...

(''Xiphidiopicus percussus'').

Characteristics

Members of ''Melanerpes'' are small to medium-sized woodpeckers found exclusively in the New World. Some are West Indian

endemics Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

, 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. Most species are boldly marked in black and white, with some areas of red and yellow. The beaks are long and pointed, and sometimes curved. The sexes differ in many species, both in colour and in size. Some species such as the

acorn woodpecker The acorn woodpecker (''Melanerpes formicivorus'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with a length of around , and an average weight of . It is found across Central America, as well as North into the western United States and South into parts of Colo ...

and the

yellow-tufted woodpecker The yellow-tufted woodpecker (''Melanerpes cruentatus'') 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 ...

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 Sap is a fluid transported in the xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a s ...

. They all nest in holes that they excavate in trees, and the

red-crowned woodpecker The red-crowned woodpecker (''Melanerpes rubricapillus'') is a species of bird in the subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and Tobago.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. ...

and the

Hoffmann's woodpecker Hoffmann's woodpecker (''Melanerpes hoffmannii'') is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found from Honduras south to Costa Rica. Taxonomy and systematics Hoffmann's woodpecker was originally descr ...

are unusual in that they sometimes enter their holes backwards.

Species

The genus includes 23 species: *'' Melanerpes shawi'' (extinct:

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

)

References

External links

''Melanerpes''
{{Authority control Dendropicini Bird genera Birds of the Americas Taxa named by William Swainson