The red-throated wryneck (''Jynx ruficollis'') is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. It is also known as the rufous-necked wryneck, red-breasted wryneck, African wryneck, or rufous-throated wryneck. This species is resident in sub-Saharan Africa, grasslands, and is the nonmigratory counterpart of the

Eurasian wryneck The Eurasian wryneck or northern wryneck (''Jynx torquilla'') is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. This species mainly breeds in temperate regions of Europe and Asia. Most populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa and ...

. The bird can be seen in the

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

, secondary woodlands and woodland edges. They requires trees with old woodpecker or barbet holes for nesting. It has cryptic plumage, with intricate patterning of greys and browns. The voice is a nasal, woodpecker-like call.

Taxonomy and etymology

Woodpeckers are an ancient bird family consisting of three subfamilies, the wrynecks, the piculets and the true woodpeckers,

Picinae Picinae containing the true woodpeckers is one of three subfamilies that make up the woodpecker family Picidae. True woodpeckers are found over much of the world, but do not occur in Madagascar or Australasia. Woodpeckers gained their English na ...

DNA sequencing DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

and phylogenetic analysis show that the wrynecks are a sister

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

to other woodpeckers including the Picinae and probably diverged early from the rest of the family.Gorman {2022) p. 3. The wryneck subfamily Jynginae has one genus, ''Jynx'' and two species, the

, ''J. torquilla'', and the red-throated wryneck, ''J. ruficollis''. The two wrynecks form a superspecies that probably separated early in their evolution from the piculets. The red-throated wryneck was first identified by German ornithologist. Johann Georg Wagler in 1830from a specimen in the Berlin Museum that originated from Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.Gorman {2022) pp. 35–36. The genus name ''Jynx'' is from the Ancient Greek name for the

, '' iunx'', and ''ruficollis'' is from the Latin ''rufus'', "rufous" and ''collum'' "neck". The red-throated wryneck has three subspecies: Gorman {2022) pp. 39–40. * ''Jynx ruficollis ruficollis'' ( Wagler, 1830), the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

found in southeastern Gabon, southwest to eastern Uganda, southern

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, southwestern Kenya, northern Tanzania, northern Angola, northwestern Zambia, Mozambique,

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

and eastern South Africa. * ''Jynx ruficollis aequatorialis'' ( Ruppell, 1842), the highlands of Ethiopia * ''Jynx ruficollis pulchricollis'' (

Hartlaub Karel Johan Gustav Hartlaub (8 November 1814 – 29 November 1900) was a German physician and ornithologist. Hartlaub was born in Bremen, and studied at Bonn and Berlin before graduating in medicine at Göttingen. In 1840, he began to study and ...

, 1884), in Nigeria, Cameroon, southern

and northwestern Uganda

Gallery

File:Rufous-necked Wryneck.jpg, Red-throated wryneck

References

Cited texts

External links

*Red-throated wryneck
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

Rufous-necked wryneck
at The Internet Bird Collection.

red-throated wryneck The red-throated wryneck (''Jynx ruficollis'') is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. It is also known as the rufous-necked wryneck, red-breasted wryneck, African wryneck, or rufous-throated wryneck. This species is resident in sub- ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Taxa named by Johann Georg Wagler {{woodpecker-stub