Dendropicos is a genus of woodpeckers in the family Picidae. They are small woodpeckers that are native to the sub-Saharan woodlands and forests.
Taxonomy The genus Dendropicos was introduced by the French ornithologist, Alfred Malherbe in 1849. The type species was subsequently designated as one of the subspecies of the cardinal woodpecker. The word Dendropicos comes from the Greek dendron meaning tree and pikos for woodpecker. Molecular genetic studies have shown that the genus Dendropicos is sister to the genus Chloropicus.
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. 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.
Elliot's, African grey, eastern grey and olive woodpeckers are sometimes placed in a separate genus, Mesopicos.
The genus contains the following 12 species: Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Little grey woodpecker Dendropicos elachus Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan Speckle-breasted woodpecker Dendropicos poecilolaemus Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda. Abyssinian woodpecker Dendropicos abyssinicusEritrea and Ethiopia Cardinal woodpecker 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 Gabon woodpecker Dendropicos gabonensisSouthern Nigeria to south-western Cameroon Melancholy woodpecker Dendropicos lugubrisCameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo Stierling's woodpecker Dendropicos stierlingisouthern Tanzania, southwestern Malawi and northern Mozambique Elliot's woodpecker Dendropicos elliotii Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda African grey woodpecker Dendropicos goertaeAngola, 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 Eastern grey woodpecker Dendropicos spodocephalusEthiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan and Tanzania Olive woodpecker Dendropicos griseocephalus Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe Brown-backed woodpecker Dendropicos obsoletusBenin, 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
Description Only males have red plumage in the crown, and some species have red plumage on the rump or belly in either sex.
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