Maps of the birds of the Western Palearctic Region

Woodpeckers

PICIFORMES

- Picidae

Jynx torquilla
Open woodland, second growth, orchards, farmlands.
From British Isles and Scandinavia e across nw,c Russia and c Siberia to Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin and s locally to nw Africa, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, n Mediterranean region, nw Turkey, nw Iran, s Russia, n India, nc,ne China, n Mongolia, Manchuria, ne Korea and n Japan. Winters s to c Africa, India, se Asia, s China and s Japan.
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    Jynx Gr. iunx (torcicollo), uccello citato nell'antica superstizione
          -torquilla L. torquere (contorcere), riferito al movimento
                              -serpentifero della propria testa

Colaptes auratus
Forest, open woodland, pine-oak, towns.
From Alaska, c Yukon, nw,s Mackenzie and n Manitoba e across c Canada to sc Labrador and Newfoundland and s to nw Baja California, c,e Texas, Gulf coast and s Florida; highlands of Mexico to Oaxaca and wc Vera Cruz; highlands of Chiapas s through Guatemala, El Salvador
and Honduras to nc Nicaragua; Cuba and Grand Cayman.
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C. auratus includes the cafer (Red-shafted Flicker) group, the Cuban Flicker and the Guatemalan Flicker, but the Gilded Flicker (below) is probably an allospecies of auratus.

Moore (1994. J. für Orn. 135:362) reviewed the size and nature of the auratus-cafer hybrid zone and suggested that the two will "maintain their integrity and distinctness, as is characteristic of "good" species, despite a complete lack of reproductive isolation." This is due to the different ecological conditions favored by the two "forms" -- they "will likely remain distinct as long as the Rocky Mountains cast a rain shadow over the western Great Plains."
These "semispecies" are neither subspecies nor allospecies -- whether to call them one or two species remains unclear. Once again, Nature defeats taxonomy.

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                      - Colaptes Gr. kolaptes (un picchio)
                - auratus L.auratus (con ornamenti dorati)
                                  -[aurum, auri = oro]
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Picus canus
Mixed forest, edge, dry woodland, towns, farmlands, bamboo.
Hills and mts., 1200-3650 m from cont. Europe and s Scandinavia e across c Russia and s Siberiad to Korea and n Japan, s in e Asia through most of n,c,e,se China and se Asia to Sumatra, Hainan and Formosa and w along Himalayas of s Tibet and n India.
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- Picus Gr pikos (picchio)
- canus L. canus (grigio, canuto)
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Picus viridis
Deciduous and mixed forest edge, second growth, woodland, towns.
P. v. viridis
Lowlands and mts. to 2750 m from British Isles and s Scandinavia s through most of Europe to n Mediterranean region (exc. Pyrenees and Iberian Pen.) and e to w Russia (Volga R.), Caucasus, Transcaucasus, Turkey and w,n Iran.
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- viridis L. viridis (verdognolo)

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P. v. sharpei
Sw Europe in Iberian Pen. and Pyrenees, incl. extreme sw France.
Differs from typical viridis in head color, juvenal plumage and size;
may be a separate species.
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                 -sharpei, forse in onore di :
                             Richard Bowdler Sharpe (1847-1909)
                  ornitologo e autore inglese
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           - fotografato in Spagna, Réserve des Aiguamolls
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Picus vaillantii
Mts. (mostly) up to 2100 m in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Often included in viridis but differs in several characters and is geographically separate; P. viridis sharpei is often considered to be an "intermediate" race.
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- vaillantii, c.te Jean Jacques Rousseau Levaillant
(1790-1876)
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Dryocopus martius
Coniferous and mixed forest.
Lowlands to 1000 m from cont. Europe and Scandinavia e across nw,c Russia and c,s Siberia to Kolyma R., Kamchatka and Kuril Is. and s to n Mediterranean region, n Turkey, sw Russia and n Iran and to sw Siberia, n Mongolia, w,ne China and n Japan; mts. to 4300 m in se Tibet and c China.
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          -Dryocopus Gr. druos (albero) + -kopos (tagliatore)
                             -martius L. martius (marziale)
                              [riferito all'aspetto dell'uccello]
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Sphyrapicus varius
Deciduous forest woodland. E,ec Alaska, sw Yukon, ne British Columbia, sw Mackenzie, n,c Alberta and nw,c Saskatchewan e across s Canada to s Labrador and c Newfoundland and s to e S. Dakota, ne Missouri, c Illinois, nw Indiana, n Ohio, w Pennsylvania and s New England and to 1800 m in Appalachians s to e Tennessee and w N. Carolina.
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