''Campethera'' is a genus of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in the 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. M ...
, or woodpeckers, that are native to
sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
. Most species are native to woodland and savanna rather than deep forest, and multiple species exhibit either arboreal or terrestrial foraging strategies.
Its nearest relative is the monotypic genus ''
Geocolaptes
The ground woodpecker (''Geocolaptes olivaceus'') is one of only three ground-dwelling woodpeckers in the world (the others are the Andean and campo flickers). It inhabits rather barren, steep, boulder-strewn slopes in relatively cool hilly and m ...
''
of southern Africa, which employs terrestrial foraging and breeding strategies. They are however not close relatives of similar-looking woodpeckers in the "
Dendropicos
''Dendropicos'' is a genus of woodpeckers in the family Picidae. They are small woodpeckers that are native to the sub-Saharan woodlands and forests.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Dendropicos'' was introduced by the French ornithologist, Alfred Malherbe ...
clade".
Taxonomy
The genus ''Campethera'' was introduced by the English zoologist
George Robert Gray
George Robert Gray FRS (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoologist and author, and head of the ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, in London for forty-one years. He was the younger brother o ...
in 1841 with the
little green woodpecker (''Campethera maculosa'') as the
type species
In 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 species that contains the biological type specimen ...
. The generic name combines the
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
''kampē'' meaning "caterpillar" and ''-thēras'' meaning "hunter".
Species diversity in the "Campethera clade" is believed to be understated, and up to 18 species may be involved.
The following 11 species are currently recognized:
Description
They are small to medium-sized woodpeckers.
The sexes are fairly similar, but males of most species have the crown and nape bright red, while in females this is restricted to the nape. Colour of the malar plumage is also useful in sexing.
Their plumage pattern is fairly uniform, and some species are only distinguishable by careful observation.
The mantle, back and wings are olive-greenish, and usually spotted or barred in buffy to golden yellow. The shafts of the remiges and rectrices are yellow to golden yellow.
The underpart plumage is spotted black to a lesser or greater degree.
Some species include drumming on dead wood as a means of non-vocal signaling. Most species are poor drummers however, and some species may not drum at all.
Foraging
Their rectrices are only partially stiffened (for arboreal support), and they readily take to terrestrial foraging. Ants and termites form important components of their diet. These are lapped up with a flexible and sticky tongue.
Gallery
Golden-tailed Woodpecker (Campethera abingoni) juvenile ... (32481247024).jpg,
Bennett's Woodpecker, Campethera bennettii at Marakele National Park, Limpopo, South Africa ( male displaying) (16093228688).jpg,
Bennett's Woodpecker, Campethera bennettii at Marakele National Park. Note the extended tongue catching an ant on the ground. (14077749051).jpg,
Nubian Woodpecker RWD3.jpg,
References
Bird genera
Taxa named by George Robert Gray
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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