WOODPECKER

any of about 180 species of birds that constitute the subfamily Picinae (true woodpeckers) of the family Picidae (order Piciformes), noted for probing for insects in tree bark and for chiseling nest holes in dead wood. Woodpeckers occur nearly worldwide, except in the region of Australia and New Guinea, but are most abundant in South America and Southeast Asia. Most woodpeckers are resident, but a few temperate-zone forms, such as the North American yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) and the flicker (Colaptes), are migratory. Most woodpeckers spend their entire lives in trees, spiraling up the trunks in search of insects; only the few ground-feeding forms are capable of perching on horizontal branches, as passerine birds do. Most woodpeckers eat insects, but some (especially Melanerpes) feed on fruits and berries, and sapsuckers regularly feed on sap from certain trees in some seasons. In spring the loud calls of woodpeckers, often augmented by drumming on hollow wood or occasionally on metal, are the sounds of males holding territories; at other seasons woodpeckers are usually silent. Most are not social, tending rather to be solitary or to travel in pairs. The acorn woodpecker (species Melanerpes formicivorus) is about 20 cm (8 inches) long and is found from the deciduous woodlands of western North America south to Colombia. The red-headed woodpecker (M. erythrocephalus) is roughly the same size (1923 cm [7.59 inches]) as the acorn woodpecker, but it is sparsely distributed in open woodlands, farmland, and orchards of temperate North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Downy woodpecker (Dendrocopos pubescens). Well-known species of Dendrocopus include the downy woodpecker (Dendrocopos pubescens; see photograph), only about 15 cm (6 inches) long and inhabiting the woodlands and gardens of temperate North America; the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), about 23 cm (9 inches) long and found from the forests and gardens of west temperate Eurasia, south to North Africa; and the hairy woodpecker (Dendrocopos villosus), which is 2025 cm (89.8 inches) long and found in temperate North America. Dryocopus includes two well-known species, the black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), which is some 46 cm (18 inches) long and is found in coniferous and beech woodlands of temperate Eurasia; and the pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), which is some 4047 cm (15.518.25 inches) in size and inhabits mature forests of much of temperate North America. Two species make up the genus Picoides, three-toed woodpeckersthe northern three-toe (P. tridactylus), which ranges across subarctic Northern Hemisphere, south in some mountains; and the black-backed three-toe (P. arcticus), found across forested central Canada. The crimson-backed woodpecker (Chrysocolaptes lucidus) is common in open woodlands from India to the Philippine Islands. The green woodpecker (Picus viridis) ranges throughout the woodlands of temperate Eurasia and south to North Africa. The deciduous forests of the southeastern United States are the habitat of the red-bellied woodpecker (Centurus carolinus). See also ivory-billed woodpecker.