Q25439
Sign in to saveWoodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specializes in exploiting cacti.
AI overview
Woodpeckers are a family of birds (Picidae) that also includes piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers, found on every continent except Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the polar regions. While most woodpeckers live in forests or woodlands, some species have adapted to treeless environments like deserts and rocky hillsides, with the Gila woodpecker notably specializing in cacti.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Piciformes
- Image
- Dendrocopos major01.jpg
Show 5 more facts
via Wikidata · CC0
Article
23 sectionsContents
- General characteristics
- Distribution, habitat, and movements
- Global distribution
- Habitat requirements
- Behavior
- Drumming
- Calls
- Diet and feeding
- Breeding
- Systematics and evolutionary history
- List of genera
- Relationship with humans
- In culture
- Status and conservation
- Brain impact research
- Anatomy
- Mechanical properties
- Bio-inspired ideas
- Beams
- References
- Cited sources
- Further reading
- External links
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specializes in exploiting cacti.
Members of this family are chiefly known for the characteristic behaviour that lent them their common name. Their pecking serves mostly to aid their forage for insect prey in the trunks and branches of trees, and also communication which they achieve by drumming trees with their beaks, producing a reverberatory sound that can be heard at some distance. Some species vary their diet with fruits, birds' eggs, small animals, tree sap, human scraps, and carrion. They usually nest and roost in holes that they excavate in tree trunks, and their abandoned holes are of importance to other cavity-nesting birds. They sometimes come into conflict with humans when they make holes in buildings or feed on fruit crops, but perform a useful service by their removal of insect pests on trees.