Woodpeckers of the World: Social Woodpeckers

Friday 4 January 2013

Social Woodpeckers

Many species of woodpecker are rather solitary, foraging and roosting alone and only interacting with others of their kind when breeding or when in dispute. However, some are social species, foraging in pairs or family parties, roosting together and even having cooperative breeding systems. Several species of Melanerpes and Colaptes in the Americas, Ground Woodpecker in South Africa and Great Slaty Woodpecker in SE Asia, for example, can all be regarded as social species. This picture shows Yellow-tufted Woodpeckers Melanerpes cruentatus a species that is always seen in noisy, gregarious groups. Pairs nest in close proximity to each other and nestlings are fed by the several members of the group. Photo: Peru, November 2012, Gerard Gorman.

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Background

Woodpeckers, the Picidae, are Piciformes, an order that includes some of the oldest avian lineages. The Piciformes probably originated about 60 million years ago in the Tertiary period and became distinct from their closest relatives some 50 million years ago. Depending upon which taxonomy is followed, and the fact that the status of some species is unclear, around 240-260 woodpecker species probably exist globally. The Picidae includes three subfamilies: Jynginae (wrynecks), Picumninae (piculets) and the Picinae, the “true woodpeckers”. In terms of size, behaviour, distribution and the habitats they use, the Picinae are a fairly diverse group of birds with six distinct tribes. They are widespread and found from sea-level to high-altitudes but absent from the Arctic, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and some other islands. Worldwide woodpeckers are usually, but not exclusively, associated with trees.