''Melanerpes'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of woodpeckers of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Picidae found in the Americas. The 23 members of the genus are mostly colourful birds, conspicuously barred in black and white, with some red and yellow.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Melanerpes'' was introduced by the English ornithologist

William Swainson William Swainson Fellow of the Linnean Society, FLS, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (8 October 1789 – 6 December 1855), was an English ornithologist, Malacology, malacologist, Conchology, conchologist, entomologist and artist. Life Swains ...

in 1832 to accommodate the red-headed woodpecker (''Melanerpes erythrocephalus''). The generic name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''melas'' meaning "black" with ''herpēs'' meaning "creeper". The genus forms part of the large

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

''Melanerpini'', which also includes the North American sapsuckers in the genus '' Sphyrapicus'' and the monotypic genus ''Xiphidiopicus'' containing only the Cuban green woodpecker (''Xiphidiopicus percussus'').

Characteristics

Members of ''Melanerpes'' are small to medium-sized woodpeckers found exclusively in the New World. Some are West Indian endemics, and include species from Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Guadeloupe; one subspecies, the Grand Bahama West Indian woodpecker (''M. superciliaris bahamensis'') became extinct in the 1950s. The majority of the species are from Central and South America. Most species are boldly marked in black and white, with some areas of red and yellow. The beaks are long and pointed, and sometimes curved. The sexes differ in many species, both in colour and in size. Some species such as the acorn woodpecker and the yellow-tufted woodpecker are sociable, foraging in groups, communicating vocally and nesting communally. These have complex breeding systems including some non-breeding adult helpers assisting in rearing the young. Like other woodpeckers, insects form a large part of the diet, being caught on the wing in some species, but fruit is also eaten in large quantities and some species consume sap. They all nest in holes that they excavate in trees, and the red-crowned woodpecker and the Hoffmann's woodpecker are unusual in that they sometimes enter their holes backwards.

Species

The genus includes 23 species: *'' Melanerpes shawi'' (extinct:

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

)

References

External links

''Melanerpes''
{{Authority control Dendropicini Bird genera Birds of the Americas Taxa named by William Swainson