Dryobates is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The species are widely distributed and occur in both Eurasia and the Americas.

Dryobates
Male Nuttall's woodpecker in California, USA
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Tribe: Melanerpini
Genus: Dryobates
F. Boie, 1826
Species

Seven, see text

Taxonomy

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The genus Dryobates was named by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826 with the downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) as the type species.[1]

The genus name Dryobates is from the Greek compound word δρυο-βάτης : 'woodland walker'; from δρῦς : drus (genitive δρυός : dryós) meaning woodland and -βάτης : -bátēs meaning walker.[2] In the eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, the genus Dryobates is expanded to include all the species in Leuconotopicus and Veniliornis.[3]

The genus contains the following species:[4]

Genus Dryobates F. Boie, 1826 – Six species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Nuttall's woodpecker

 
Male
 
Female

Dryobates nuttallii
(Gambel, 1843)
northern California extending south towards the northwest region of Baja California, Mexico
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Downy woodpecker

 
Male
 
Female

Dryobates pubescens
(Linnaeus, 1766)

Seven subspecies
North America
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 



Ladder-backed woodpecker

 
Male
 
Female

Dryobates scalaris
(Wagler, 1829)
Southwestern United States (north to extreme southern Nevada and extreme southeastern Colorado), most of Mexico, and locally in Central America as far south as Nicaragua
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Lesser spotted woodpecker

 
Male
 
Female

Dryobates minor
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Thirteen subspecies
  • D. m. comminutus (Hartert, 1907)
  • D. m. minor (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • D. m. kamtschatkensis (Malherbe, 1860)
  • D. m. immaculatus (Stejneger, 1884)
  • D. m. amurensis (Buturlin, 1908)
  • D. m. hortorum (Brehm, CL, 1831)
  • D. m. buturlini Hartert, 1912
  • D. m. danfordi (Hargitt, 1883)
  • D. m. colchicus (Buturlin, 1908)
  • D. m. quadrifasciatus (Radde, 1884)
  • D. m. hyrcanus (Zarudny & Bilkevitch, 1913)
  • D. m. morgani (Zarudny & Loudon, 1904)
  • D. m. ledouci (Malherbe, 1855) – northwest Africa
Europe and northern Asia
 
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Crimson-naped woodpecker

 

Dryobates cathpharius
(Blyth, 1843)

Two subspecies
  • D. c. ludlowi
  • D. c. pyrrhothorax
Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Necklaced woodpecker

 

Dryobates pernyii
(Verreaux, J,, 1867)
Bangladesh, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


References

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  1. ^ Boie, Friedrich (1826). "Generalübersicht". Isis von Oken (in German). 18–19. Jena. Col 977.
  2. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. ^ Clements, J.F.; Schulenberg, T.S.; Iliff, M.J.; Billerman, S.M.; Fredericks, T.A.; Sullivan, B.L.; Wood, C.L. (2021). "The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2021". Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Woodpeckers". World Bird List Version 6.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 May 2016.