''Picoides'' 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 ...

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. ...

(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. ...

) that are native to

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, commonly known as three-toed woodpeckers.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Picoides'' was introduced by the French naturalist

Bernard Germain de Lacépède Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de Lacépède or La Cépède (; 26 December 17566 October 1825) was a French natural history, naturalist and an active freemason. He is known for his contribution to the Comte de Buffon's g ...

in 1799. 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 ...

was subsequently designated as the

Eurasian three-toed woodpecker The Eurasian three-toed woodpecker (''Picoides tridactylus'') is a medium-sized woodpecker that is found from northern Europe across northern Asia to Japan. Taxonomy The Eurasian three-toed woodpecker was formally described in 1758 by the Swedi ...

(''Picoides tridactylus'') by the English zoologist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoology, zoologist and author, and head of the Ornithology, ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, London f ...

in 1840. The genus name combines the Latin ''Picus'' for a woodpecker and the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''-oidēs'' meaning "resembling". The genus ''Picoides'' formerly contained around 12 species. In 2015 a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis of nuclear and

mitochondrial A mitochondrion () is an organelle found in the cells of most eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used ...

DNA sequences from pied woodpeckers found that three existing genera (''Picoides'', ''

Veniliornis ''Veniliornis'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. They are native to the Neotropics. Taxonomy The genus was introduced by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The word ''Veniliornis'' combines the name o ...

'' and ''

Dendropicos ''Dendropicos'' is a genus of woodpeckers in the family Picidae. They are small woodpeckers that are native to the Sub-Saharan Africa, sub-Saharan woodlands and forests. Taxonomy The genus ''Dendropicos'' was introduced by the French ornithologi ...

'') were

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

. After the resurrection of five

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

genera and the subsequent rearrangement in which most of the former members of ''Picoides'' were moved to ''

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 ''

Dryobates ''Dryobates'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. 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 in 1826 with th ...

'', only three of the original species remained.

Description

The males of all three species have yellow on the crown, though this feature is also present in some other pied woodpeckers, namely brown-fronted and yellow-crowned. The remaining color pattern of the plumage, structural features, and life habits are very similar to related woodpeckers of the ''

'' and ''

'' genera. The foot of all three species show an extreme adaptation to arboreal living by lacking the first digit, or hallux. It has been pointed out however that various species of pied woodpecker are similar in having a short first digit. Two species of woodpecker in genus ''

Sasia __NOTOC__ ''Sasia'' is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae, that are native to the Old World. They are very small, virtually tailless woodpeckers, with a crombec or nuthatch-like appearance and foraging habits. Their habitat is for ...

'' (not closely related) also lack the first digit.

Habits

As opposed to genus ''Dryobates'', the three species of ''Picoides'' obtain most (some 85%) of their insect prey by pecking live or dead wood. The hairy woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus villosus'') for instance, obtains only 45% of its food by pecking wood, 30% from the surface of trunks and 25% at other places.

Species

The genus contains the following three species:

References

{{Authority control Bird genera Dendropicini