Veniliornis is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. They are native to the Neotropics.
Taxonomy The genus was introduced by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The word Veniliornis combines the name of the Roman deity Venilia with the Greek word ornis meaning "bird". The type species was designated as the blood-colored woodpecker (Veniliornis sanguineus) by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855.
The genus contains the following 14 species: Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Scarlet-backed woodpecker Veniliornis callonotus Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru Yellow-vented woodpecker Veniliornis dignusColombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela Bar-bellied woodpecker Veniliornis nigriceps Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Little woodpecker Veniliornis passerinusSouth America east of the Andes Dot-fronted woodpecker Veniliornis frontalisArgentina and Bolivia. White-spotted woodpecker Veniliornis spilogaster Brazil, Uruguay, eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina. Blood-colored woodpecker Veniliornis sanguineusGuyana, Suriname, and French Guiana Red-rumped woodpecker Veniliornis kirkii Costa Rica south and east to Ecuador, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago Red-stained woodpecker Veniliornis affiniseastern Brazil and the Amazon Basin. Chocó woodpecker Veniliornis chocoensis Colombia and Ecuador. Golden-collared woodpecker Veniliornis cassininorthern Brazil, the Guianas, Venezuela and far eastern Colombia. Yellow-eared woodpecker Veniliornis maculifronseastern Brazil. Striped woodpecker Veniliornis lignarius – formerly in Picoides southwestern South America. Checkered woodpecker Veniliornis mixtus – formerly in Picoideseastern South America.
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