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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Woodpeckers are a family of near-passerines (the Picidae) in the order Piciformes. The Piciformes probably originated some 60 million years ago and includes some of the oldest avian lineages. The evolutionary history of woodpeckers and the relationships between them and other Piciformes remains unclear; however, recent DNA sequence analysis and morphological studies suggest that barbets (Capitonidae, Megalaimidae, Lybiidae, Semnornithidae), toucans (Ramphastidae) and particularly honeyguides (Indicatoridae) are relatives. Woodpeckers are the most species-rich of the Piciformes and probably became distinct from others in the order around 50 million years ago.

The picid fossil record is poor, but findings suggest that woodpeckers originated in Eurasia, before dispersing to North America and then South America. The earliest fossil, from the late Oligocene/early Miocene epoch (more than 25 million years ago), was discovered in central France and named Piculoides saulcetensis. The oldest New World fossil, from the Miocene (2520 million years ago), is a contour feather in amber from Hispaniola. The oldest African fossil, from the Pliocene (53 million years ago), was unearthed in South Africa and named Australopicus nelsonmandelai in honour of Nelson Mandela. This picid is regarded as being more closely related to the Celeus and Dryocopus, which do not occur in Africa, than to any genus occurring on that continent. Woodpeckers as we know them today are probably around 5 million years old. They are usually divided into three subfamilies: Jynginae (wrynecks), Picumninae (piculets) and Picinae (true woodpeckers).

Woodpeckers appear in folklore and legends worldwide. Many North American Indian tribes considered woodpeckers to be prophets or medicine birds, associated with friendship and happiness, their drumming was linked to shamanism and their bills and feathers used in rituals and to adorn head-dresses and totem poles. In Mayan myth, a woodpecker is asked to tap on a rock to find where it is thinnest so that man can extract maize hidden within, but the bird was cut by flying stone and bled and has ever since had a red nape. Woodpeckers have often been associated with security and fertility: in the Old World, Pan is said to have hatched from a woodpeckers egg, a woodpecker was believed to have joined the wolf in feeding the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, and a curious tradition from the Peruvian Andes that lingers today maintains that the flesh of Andean Flickers helps nursing mothers produce more milk. In Greco-Roman mythology, the woodland King Picus was turned into a woodpecker by the enchantress Circe when he rejected her love. In many cultures woodpeckers have also been associated with fire, lightning, storms and destruction. Drumming was linked to thunder, the Greeks associating a woodpecker with Zeus, the Piceni tribes with Mars, and the Romans hailed woodpeckers as good omens in wartime.

When I was asked by Bloomsbury Publishing to work on this photographic guide, the timing was perfect. I had just finished a monograph The Black Woodpecker (Lynx Edicions, 2011) which had followed on from Woodpeckers of Europe (Bruce Coleman, 2004), and had already begun to accumulate data for a global project on these remarkable birds. During my research it soon became clear that many species of woodpecker are poorly-known, with questions on taxonomy, biology, behaviour, distribution and even existence remaining unanswered. I hope this book helps draw attention to these issues. Correspondence on any subjects relating to woodpeckers and/or to this book should addressed to the author c/o Bloomsbury Publishing. In particular, photographs of newly described or rare species and subspecies (especially those taxa which we were unable to obtain for this book), and of birds indulging in interesting behaviour, would be welcomed for future editions.

Woodpeckers appear in the legends and myths of many ancient cultures. For example, the Mayans believed that the red on the head of woodpeckers, such as this male Ladder-backed Woodpecker Picoides scalaris, appeared when the birds bled from wounds sustained whilst hacking into rocks to find hidden corn for humanity. Volcn Fuego, Mexico, March (Gary Thoburn).

TAXONOMY

Woodpecker taxonomy is complex, with species limits sometimes unclear and many taxa hybridising. Classification has been somewhat untidy, with species and subspecies created and then rejected or moved to and fro between genera. Previously, most analysis was based on plumage, behaviour and ecology, or on morphology and anatomy. More recently, studies have focused on DNA sequences and suggest that in many aspects of plumage and ecology woodpeckers have undergone convergent evolution, arriving at similar solutions independently. Subsequently, subspecies are increasingly being granted full-species status and as studies continue, particularly on the piculets, this trend will continue. The conservation of woodpeckers (and indeed all animals) can be hindered by uncertainty in their taxonomic status, but fortunately conservation biologists are increasingly focusing on this issue.

There are many differing global and regional taxonomic checklists for birds. As taxonomy is man-made and on-going assessment of what constitutes a species and what does not varies, no single list is definitive. Sadly, the very existence of some species is also uncertain. Thus, a final figure for the number of woodpecker species on the planet is hard to ascertain. However, for works of this kind, decisions have to be made on which taxa to include and exclude. After synthesising the work of various international and regional taxonomic authorities and peer-reviewed papers including Benz et al. (2006), Clements (2012), Collar (2011), Del-Rio et al. (2013), Dickinson (2003), Fuchs et al. (2008b), Gill & Donsker (2013), Moore et al. (2006), Rasmussen & Anderton (2005), Remsen et al. (2013), Tobias et al. (2010) and Webb & Moore (2005) a total of 239 species have been included in this book. This compares with 214 species in Winkler, Christie & Nurney (1995) and 216 in HBW (2002). Some observers view recent taxonomic splits as exaggerated, others as too conservative, and thus the total of species included will please some and displease others.

Nomenclature

No overall agreement on which English vernacular names to use for many birds, including some woodpeckers, exists. Numerous woodpeckers have more than one English name, for example, the Asian flamebacks are often called goldenbacks and Grey-headed Woodpecker is sometimes called Grey-faced Woodpecker. Alternative English names are given when relevant but the solution, when deciding exactly which species is being discussed, should be to refer to the scientific name of the species. The English names in this book mostly, but not entirely, follow the IOC World Bird List.

The complex taxonomy of the Picidae is sometimes further convoluted by the inter-breeding of taxa. For example, this Little Woodpecker