''Hemicircus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of birds in the woodpecker 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 ...

. Members of the genus are found in India and Southeast Asia. These are small woodpeckers with short tails. The plumage is mainly black and white. The genus was introduced in 1837 by the English naturalist

William John Swainson William John Swainson FLS, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, malacologist, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swainson was born in Dover Place, St Mary Newington, London, the eldest son of ...

with the grey-and-buff woodpecker (''Hemicircus concretus'') 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 genus name combines the Ancient Greek hēmi'' meaning "half" or "small" and ''kerkos'' meaning "tail".

Species

The genus contains two species:

References

Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{woodpecker-stub