Taxonomy
The genus ''Dryobates'' was named by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826 with the downy woodpecker (''Dryobates pubescens'') as the type species. The genus name ''Dryobates'' is from the Greek compound word δρυο-βάτης : 'woodland walker'; from : ''drus'' (genitive : ''dryós'') meaning woodland and : ''-bátēs'' meaning walker. In the ''eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'', the genus ''Dryobates'' is expanded to include all the species in '' Leuconotopicus'' and '' Veniliornis''. The genus contains the following species:References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q12814087 Bird genera