Colaptes
Encyclopedia
Colaptes is the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of woodpecker
Woodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....

s which contains the flickers. The scientific name means "the pecker", Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

ized from the Greek verb kolápto (κολάπτω), "to peck".

Probably the most famous member of this genus is the Northern Flicker
Northern Flicker
The Northern Flicker is a medium-sized member of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. There are over 100 common names for the Northern Flicker...

 (C. auratus), known in parts of the southern U.S. as the "Yellowhammer
Yellowhammer (disambiguation)
Yellowhammer can refer to:* Emberiza citrinella, an Old World passerine bird* An alternative name for the Yellow-shafted Flicker , a North American woodpecker* A nickname for state troops from Alabama, United States...

". The bird is the state bird of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, and the state's nickname is the "Yellowhammer State".

Colaptes woodpeckers typically have a brown or green back and wings with black barring, and a beige
Beige
Beige may be described as an off tan color or an extremely pale brown color.The term originates from beige cloth, a cotton fabric left undyed in its natural color...

 to yellowish underside, with black spotting or barring. There are usually colorful markings on the head. Many of these birds – particularly the northerly species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 – are more terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 than usual among woodpeckers.

Systematics and evolution

The genus Colaptes belongs to the diverse tribe
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank between family and genus. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes.Some examples include the tribes: Canini, Acalypheae, Hominini, Bombini, and Antidesmeae.-See also:* Biological classification* Rank...

 Picini, which is included in the Malarpicini by some authors. Regardless, their tribe contains mostly mid-sized and often rather terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 woodpeckers with typically greenish or brownish wings, but also some large and dark forms e.g. in the genus Dryocopus
Dryocopus
Dryocopus is a genus of large powerful woodpeckers, typically 35–45 cm in length. It has representatives in North and South America, Europe, and Asia; some South American species are endangered...

. The rather closely related genus Picus
Picus (biology)
Picus is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family. It has representatives in Europe, Asia and North Africa.These are large woodpeckers, typically with green upperparts...

can be considered the Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....

 ecomorphological equivalent of Colaptes; it is the type genus
Type genus
In biological classification, a type genus is a representative genus, as with regard to a biological family. The term and concept is used much more often and much more formally in zoology than it is in botany, and the definition is dependent on the nomenclatural Code that applies:* In zoological...

 of the tribe Picini (if valid), the true woodpecker subfamily (Picinae), the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of woodpeckers and relatives (Picidae
Picidae
The woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks are a family, Picidae, of near-passerine birds. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia and New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions...

), as well as the suborder (Pici
Pici
Pici is a thick, hand rolled pasta, like a fat spaghetti. It originates in the province of Siena in Tuscany; in the Montalcino area it is also referred to as pinci....

) and entire order
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 (Piciformes
Piciformes
Nine families of largely arboreal birds make up the order Piciformes, the best-known of them being the Picidae, which includes the woodpeckers and close relatives...

) of increasingly more distant woodpecker relatives up to and including the puffbird
Puffbird
The puffbirds and their relatives in the near passerine family Bucconidae are tropical birds breeding from South America up to Mexico.They are related to the jacamars, but lack the iridescent colours of that family. They are mainly brown, rufous or grey, with large heads and flattened bills with a...

s (Galbulidae). Picus is not as closely related to the flickers as is the genus Piculus
Piculus
Piculus is a genus of bird in the Picidae family.It contains the following species:* Rufous-winged Woodpecker * Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker * Lita Woodpecker...

, however, which have a more conventional lifestyle and forage on the ground less often.

Colaptes can be divided into two groups: The typical flickers (subgenus
Subgenus
In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which...

 Colaptes) are slender and more terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 species with usually solid-colored tops of the heads. They occur all over the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 except in polar regions. The forest flickers (subgenus Chrysoptilus) are more arboreal species; almost all of them have a red nape and a different-colored crown. They are found in South America; a group of three species formerly placed in Piculus ranges via the mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...

n Cordillera
Cordillera
A cordillera is an extensive chain of mountains or mountain ranges, that runs along a coastline . It comes from the Spanish word cordilla, which is a diminutive of cuerda, or "cord"...

 north to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

The genus probably evolved a few million years ago, around the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

/Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

 boundary or somewhat earlier. The fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 specimen DMNH 1262 from the Early Pliocene (about 5 million years ago), found near Ainsworth, Nebraska
Ainsworth, Nebraska
Ainsworth is a city in Brown County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,862 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Brown County.-Geography:Ainsworth is located at ....

 (USA), is a right ulna
Ulna
The ulna is one of the two long bones in the forearm, the other being the radius. It is prismatic in form and runs parallel to the radius, which is shorter and smaller. In anatomical position The ulna is one of the two long bones in the forearm, the other being the radius. It is prismatic in form...

 which is almost complete, with only the tips damaged. It seems to be either from a basal Colaptes or a genus of Picini (or Malarpicini) closely related to it, and resembles the ulna of forest flickers more than that of the typical flickers, suggesting that it was from a bird not as terrestrial as the modern-day subgenus Colaptes.

An undescribed Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

 fossil flicker from the Bahamas belongs to the subgenus Colaptes judging from biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...

; it was probably close to C. fernandinae, perhaps to C. aureus.

Species

Subgenus Colaptes
  • Northern Flicker
    Northern Flicker
    The Northern Flicker is a medium-sized member of the woodpecker family. It is native to most of North America, parts of Central America, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and is one of the few woodpecker species that migrate. There are over 100 common names for the Northern Flicker...

    ,
    Colaptes auratus. The binomen
    Binomen
    In zoological nomenclature, a binomen , is the two-part name of a species. The term was introduced in 1953, abolishing the previously used "binomial name" . A binomen consists of a generic name and a specific epithet...

     (species name) means "gilt" (gilded).
    • Yellow-shafted Flicker, Colaptes (auratus) auratus
    • Red-shafted Flicker, Colaptes (auratus) cafer
    • Caribbean Flicker, Colaptes (auratus) chrysocaulosus
    • Guadalupe Flicker, Colaptes auratus/cafer rufipileus – extinct (c.1910)
  • Gilded Flicker
    Gilded Flicker
    The Gilded Flicker is a large-sized woodpecker of the Sonoran, Yuma, and eastern Colorado Desert regions of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico including all of the Baja Peninsula except the extreme northwestern region...

    ,
    Colaptes chrysoides. Chrysoides means "like gold".
  • Fernandina's Flicker
    Fernandina's Flicker
    Fernandina's Flicker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family. Endemic to Cuba, its small population of 600–800 birds makes it one of the most endangered species of woodpecker in the world; only the possibly-extinct Ivory-billed Woodpecker is known to have a smaller population...

    ,
    Colaptes fernandinae, an endangered bird native to Cuba
    Cuba
    The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

    . Fernandina was an early name for Cuba.
  • Chilean Flicker
    Chilean Flicker
    The Chilean Flicker is a species of bird in the Picidae family.It is found in Argentina and Chile.Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest....

    ,
    Colaptes pitius. The species name derives from the bird's characteristic call, which is "pitiu-pitiu-pitiu".
  • Andean Flicker
    Andean Flicker
    The Andean Flicker is a South American species of woodpecker. It is found in grassland, shrubland and Polylepis woodland at altitudes of in the Andes from southern Ecuador to northern Chile and northwestern Argentina...

    ,
    Colaptes rupicola, found in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. Rupicola is Latin for "rock-dweller".
  • Campo Flicker
    Campo Flicker
    The Campo Flicker is a species of bird in the woodpecker family. It is found in a wide range of open and semi-open habitats in eastern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and north-eastern Argentina, with isolated populations in Amapá and southern Suriname...

    ,
    Colaptes campestris. Campestris is Latin for "of the fields" and refers to the species' favorite habitat, open grassland.


Subgenus
Chrysoptilus
  • Black-necked Woodpecker
    Black-necked Woodpecker
    The Black-necked Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is endemic to Peru.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . ...

    , Colaptes atricollis. Atricollis is Latin for "dark-necked".
  • Spot-breasted Woodpecker
    Spot-breasted Woodpecker
    The Spot-breasted Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family.It is found in South America in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela; also eastern Panama of Central America....

    , Colaptes punctigula. Punctigula comes from the Latin adjective punctatus meaning, 'spotted', and the noun gula, meaning throat.
  • Green-barred Woodpecker
    Green-barred Woodpecker
    The Green-barred Woodpecker is a species of bird in the Picidae family. . The scientific name melanochloros derives from the Greek melanos, meaning "black", and chloros, "pale green", the principal colors of this bird...

    , Colaptes melanochloros
    • Golden-breasted Woodpecker
      Golden-breasted Woodpecker
      The Golden-breasted Woodpecker is a bird in the woodpecker family, Picidae. It is sometimes considered a distinct species C. melanolaimus...

      , Colaptes (melanochloros) melanolaimus
  • Golden-olive Woodpecker
    Golden-olive Woodpecker
    The Golden-olive Woodpecker, Colaptes rubiginosus, is a resident breeding bird from Mexico south and east to Guyana, northwest Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago. It was formerly placed in the genus Piculus...

    , Colaptes rubiginosus (formerly in Piculus)
  • Gray-crowned Woodpecker, Colaptes auricularis (formerly in Piculus)
  • Bronze-winged Woodpecker
    Bronze-winged Woodpecker
    The Bronze-winged Woodpecker, Colaptes aeruginosus, a forest flicker endemic to northeast Mexico, from Tamaulipas to northern Veracruz. It was formerly placed in the genus Piculus...

    , Colaptes aeruginosus (formerly in Piculus and formerly treated as a subspecies of C. rubiginosus)
  • Crimson-mantled Woodpecker
    Crimson-mantled Woodpecker
    The Crimson-mantled Woodpecker is a bird species in the woodpecker family . It was formerly placed in the genus Piculus . Its scientific name rivolii was given in honor of André Masséna, duke of Rivoli.It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela...

    , Colaptes rivolii (formerly in Piculus)
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