Dendrocopos Explained

Dendrocopos is a widespread genus of woodpeckers from Asia, Europe and Northern Africa. The species range from the Philippines to the British Isles.

Taxonomy

The genus Dendrocopos was introduced in 1816 by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch.^[1] The name combines the Ancient Greek dendron meaning "tree" with kopos meaning "striking".^[2] The type species was designated as the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) by the Scottish ornithologist Edward Hargitt in 1890 in his catalogue of woodpeckers in the collection of the British Museum.^{[3] [4]}

The genus at one time contained around 25 species. A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the pied woodpeckers published in 2015 found that Dendrocopos was polyphyletic. In the rearranged genera the number of species in Dendrocopos was reduced to 12 as listed below.^{[5] [6]}

Species

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Dendrocopos hyperythrus		Indian subcontinent and Southeast and East Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam
	Dendrocopos macei		Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Myanmar
	Dendrocopos analis		Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam
	Dendrocopos atratus		India to Vietnam and the province of Yunnan in southwestern China
	Dendrocopos darjellensis		Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Tibet
	Dendrocopos himalayensis		Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan
	Dendrocopos assimilis		India, Iran, and Pakistan
	Dendrocopos syriacus		southeastern Europe east to Iran
	Dendrocopos leucopterus		Afghanistan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
	Dendrocopos major		British Isles to Japan, and in North Africa from Morocco to Tunisia
	Dendrocopos noguchii		Okinawa in Japan
	Dendrocopos leucotos		Eastern Europe across the Palearctic to Japan

Further reading

• Sangster . G. . etal . 2016 . Taxonomic recommendations for Western Palearctic birds: 11th report . Ibis . 158 . 1 . 206–212 . 10.1111/ibi.12322 . none .
• Winkler . H. . Gamauf . A. . Nittinger . F. . Haring . E. . 2014 . Relationships of Old World woodpeckers (Aves: Picidae)—new insights and taxonomic implications . Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien, Series B für Botanik und Zoologie . 116 . 69–86 . none .

Notes and References

1. Book: Koch, C.L. . Carl Ludwig Koch . 1816 . System der baierischen Zoologie . 1 . de . Nürnberg . Stein . xxvii, 72.
2. Book: Jobling, James A . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 133.
3. Book: Peters . James Lee . James Lee Peters . 1948 . Check-list of Birds of the World . 6 . Cambridge, Massachusetts . Harvard University Press . 180 .
4. Book: Hargitt, E. . Edward Hargitt . 1890 . Volume 18: Catalogue of the Picariae in the collection of the British Museum . Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum . 18 . 201 . British Museum . London .
5. Fuchs . J. . Pons . J.M. . 2015 . A new classification of the pied woodpeckers assemblage (Dendropicini, Picidae) based on a comprehensive multi-locus phylogeny . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 88 . 28–37 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.03.016 . 25818851. 2015MolPE..88...28F .
6. Web site: Gill . Frank . Frank Gill (ornithologist) . Donsker . David . Woodpeckers . World Bird List Version 6.2 . International Ornithologists' Union. 5 May 2016 .