Campephilus Explained

Campephilus is a genus of large American woodpeckers in the family Picidae.^[1]

Taxonomy

The genus Campephilus was introduced by English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1840, with the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) as the type species.^[2] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek kampē meaning "caterpillar" and philos meaning "loving".^[3] The genus is placed in the tribe Campephilini in the subfamily Picinae and is sister to a clade containing woodpeckers from Southeast Asia in the genera Chrysocolaptes, Blythipicus, and Reinwardtipicus.^[4]

Species

The genus contains 12 species:^[5]

Image	Common Name	Scientific name	Distribution
	Powerful woodpecker	Campephilus pollens	Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela
	Splendid woodpecker	Campephilus splendens	Panama, western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador
	Crimson-bellied woodpecker	Campephilus haematogaster	Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
	Red-necked woodpecker	Campephilus rubricollis	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.
	Robust woodpecker	Campephilus robustus	Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.
	Crimson-crested woodpecker	Campephilus melanoleucos	Panama south to northern border regions of Argentina, and on Trinidad.
	Guayaquil woodpecker	Campephilus gayaquilensis	southern Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru.
	Pale-billed woodpecker	Campephilus guatemalensis	northern Mexico to western Panama.
	Cream-backed woodpecker	Campephilus leucopogon	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and far northwestern Uruguay.
	Magellanic woodpecker	Campephilus magellanicus	southern Chile and southwestern Argentina
	Ivory-billed woodpecker	Campephilus principalis – possibly extinct (1987)	Southern United States and Cuba.
	Imperial woodpecker	Campephilus imperialis – probably extinct (1956)	Mexico.

A fossil species, C. dalquesti, was described from bones found in Late Pleistocene deposits of Scurry County, Texas.

Notes and References

1. Benz, Brett W.; Robbins, Mark B. & Peterson, A. Townsend (2006): Evolutionary history of woodpeckers and allies (Aves: Picidae): Placing key taxa on the phylogenetic tree. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40: 389–399.
2. Book: Gray, George Robert . George Robert Gray . 1840 . A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus . London . R. and J.E. Taylor . 54 .
3. Book: Jobling, James A. . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 87 .
4. Shakya . S.B. . Fuchs . J. . Pons . J.M. . Sheldon . F.H. . 2017 . Tapping the woodpecker tree for evolutionary insight . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 116 . 182–191 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2017.09.005 . 28890006 . free . 2017MolPE.116..182S .
5. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Rasmussen . Pamela . Pamela Rasmussen . July 2023 . Woodpeckers . IOC World Bird List Version 13.2 . International Ornithologists' Union . 26 July 2023 .