Woodpeckers of the World: Picid in Focus: Philippine Woodpecker

Sunday 6 October 2013

Picid in Focus: Philippine Woodpecker

Philippine Woodpecker Dendrocopos maculatus. Endemic to the Philippines - this great photo of an adult female was taken by Alain Pascua in October 2011, in Marikina City. See more of Alain's wonderful bird images at: http://www.alainpascua.com

2 comments:

Laura7 October 2013 at 20:57
I like these non red and black woodies, a speckled little character for sure.
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Gerard Gorman9 October 2013 at 20:24
well Laura there are plenty of woodpeckers around the world that are not red and black... greens, yellows and browns feature highly, too.

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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.