Dendropicos is a genus of woodpeckers in the family Picidae. They are small woodpeckers that are native to the sub-Saharan woodlands and forests.[1]
The genus Dendropicos was introduced by the French ornithologist, Alfred Malherbe in 1849.[2] The type species was subsequently designated as one of the subspecies of the cardinal woodpecker.[3] [4] The word Dendropicos comes from the Greek dendron meaning tree and pikos for woodpecker.[5] Molecular genetic studies have shown that the genus Dendropicos is sister to the genus Chloropicus.[6]
The genus Dendropicos formerly contained several additional species. A 2015 molecular phylogenetic study that analysed nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences from pied woodpeckers found that Dendropicos was polyphyletic. In the rearranged genera the bearded, fire-bellied and yellow breasted woodpeckers were moved to Chloropicus while the Arabian woodpecker was moved to Dendrocoptes.[7] [8] The taxonomic committee of the British Ornithologists' Union have recommended an alternative arrangement of species in which the genera Dendrocoptes and Leiopicus are combined into a larger Dendropicos.[9]
Elliot's, African grey, eastern grey and olive woodpeckers are sometimes placed in a separate genus, Mesopicos.[1]
The genus contains the following 12 species:[8]
| Image | Common Name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dendropicos elachus | Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan | ||
| Dendropicos poecilolaemus | Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda. | ||
| Dendropicos abyssinicus | Eritrea and Ethiopia | ||
| Dendropicos fuscescens | Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe | ||
| Dendropicos gabonensis | Southern Nigeria to south-western Cameroon | ||
| Dendropicos lugubris | Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo | ||
| Dendropicos stierlingi | southern Tanzania, southwestern Malawi and northern Mozambique | ||
| Dendropicos elliotii | Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda | ||
| Dendropicos goertae | Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda | ||
| Dendropicos spodocephalus | Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan and Tanzania | ||
| Dendropicos griseocephalus | Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe | ||
| Dendropicos obsoletus | Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda | ||
Only males have red plumage in the crown, and some species have red plumage on the rump or belly in either sex.[1]