Woodpeckers , or woodpeckers ( lat. Picidae ) - a family of birds ; enters the woodpecker detachment and occupies a central position in it (including 34 of 76 genera and 233 of 440 species of the order) [1] . A characteristic feature of the vast majority of the family is a chisel-shaped beak , with which woodpeckers hammer the bark and core of the tree, extracting food from it - insects and their larvae [2] . Almost all species are sedentary or nomadic; they are climbing tree birds flying reluctantly (albeit quickly) and, as a rule, over short distances. Usually live singly or in pairs [3] ; some, like the acornic woodpecker ( Melanerpes formicivorus ), in large groups [4] .
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 Yellow-bellied Woodpecker ( Sphyrapicus varius ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Picidae vigors , 1825 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content
Appearance and structure
Small and medium-sized birds 7-60 cm long and weighing 7-520 g. The smallest woodpecker ( Picumnus aurifrons ) from South America is considered to be the smallest member of the family, its length is only 8 cm, and its weight is 7 g. The largest living bird of the family woodpeckers - a large muller woodpecker ( Mulleripicus pulverulentus ) from Southeast Asia , its length is about 50 cm and weight is more than 450 g. Until recently, larger species were known - the imperial woodpecker ( Campephilus imperialis ) (58 cm, more 600 g) and the white-billed woodpecker ( Campephilus principalis ) (50 cm, about 500 g), however at the moment they may have died out (their status is not currently confirmed).
The woodpecker's body is smooth, stocky. The color of the plumage is diverse, in most species it is bright (black, green or mottled). The wings are blunt and wide, composed of 10–11 primary wing feathers [3] .
Woodpeckers live mainly in forests, on trees, so the legs of woodpeckers are short, with long fingers and tenacious claws [2] . Two toes are directed forward, and two backwards. In most species, with the exception of woodpeckers (the subfamily Picumninae ), well-developed tail feathers serve as a support for climbing trees. These feathers (12 in total) are pointed at the end, and their trunks are very thick and springy. The tail feathers overlap one another in a tile-like manner (middle pair on top) [5] .
Woodpeckers have a thin, strong beak , with the help of which they hammer the bark and wood in search of food or when building a nest; an exception is vertices , whose weak beak does not allow for wood chiselling. Woodpeckers often tap on tree trunks with their beaks (so finding them in the forest is not difficult), and they use these taps as a means of communication (to signal ownership of the territory) [6] . In the spring, during the mating season, males beak their beaks on dry trees, emitting a characteristic trill [7] .
Rigid, forward-looking hairy feathers covering the nostrils serve as a means of protecting the respiratory tract from the ingestion of small shavings from woodpeckers in woodpeckers. An extremely long tongue , protruding far from the beak, and highly developed salivary glands , which allow gluing prey to the tongue (in addition to insects and their larvae extracted from under the bark), woodpeckers often feed on ants in anthills, termites , and seeds to get woodpeckers from insect woods. trees and berries. [8] At the end of the tongue there are usually spines, it is located in a special cavity of the skull (it is formed by the horns of the hyoid bone, which stretch along the sides of the skull, bending up at the back of the head and moving along the subject not on the forehead, and sometimes reaching the upper jaw.) When the hyoid apparatus moves forward, the tongue moves out of the beak incision more than the length of the head [2] .
Distribution
Distributed almost universally, but are absent in the polar regions, Ireland , Australia , New Zealand , New Guinea , Madagascar and some ocean islands. In the Russian Federation, there are 11 species of the family belonging to 6 genera (the recent transfer of the species of small spotted woodpecker from the genus Picoides to the recently isolated genus Dryobates has been taken into account [9] ; according to other sources, in Russia - 14 species of woodpeckers. The most widespread are the large motley , small motley , green , gray-haired , three-fingered woodpeckers, yellow and turntable [10] .
Most often, woodpeckers are attached to a wooded area, where they live on trees and feed on wood insects. In addition, high relative humidity , frequent precipitation and the presence of nearby reservoirs with standing or running water contribute to the biodiversity and abundance of these birds. In a humid and humid climate, trees are more susceptible to fungal infection and decay than they create the necessary conditions for the existence of insects that feed on woodpeckers; and make it easy for birds to chisel the wood in which they make their nests. Mostly green woodpeckers ( Picus ) feed on the earth, which feed on ants and termites , as well as some species that have adapted to life in the desert, such as the Andean Shiloklyuvy woodpecker ( Colaptes rupicola ) from South America or the South African earthen woodpecker ( Geocolaptes olivaceus ).
Reproduction
( Jynx torquilla )
Almost all members of the family nest in hollows, although the papas woodpecker ( Colaptes campestris campestroides ), which lives in the pampas of South America, and the South African earthen woodpecker ( Geocolaptes olivaceus ), inhabiting treeless areas - rocky mountainsides and steep river banks, dig holes in the banks of rivers or on the hillsides [11] [12] . Most of them hollow out in hollow trees (15–45 cm) on their own. An exception is the turntables , which themselves do not hollow out the hollow, although they are able to expand and deepen the existing one; they either use the already abandoned hollows, or throw the owners out of a suitable nest found [13] . It usually takes no more than two weeks to build one hollow, although it can take several years for the cockard woodpecker ( Picoides borealis ), who lives in the southeastern United States . Litter in the nest is most often absent.
Woodpeckers form pairs during the mating season. In the clutch - usually 3–7 white shiny eggs , rarely more. The incubation period is 10-12 days, both parents participate in incubation. Chicks hatch naked and helpless. After leaving the nest, they stick together for some time, but then the brood disintegrates and woodpeckers roam alone in the forest [14] .
Systematics and phylogeny
( Colaptes campestris campestroides )
The family of woodpeckers is divided into 4 subfamilies , and the largest of them - Picinae - is divided, in turn, into 4 tribes . The phylogenetic relationships between these subfamilies and tribes are depicted using the following cladogram [15] :
| Picidae |
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Subfamily Jynginae
The subfamily Vertishovye ( Jynginae ) includes one genus:
- Turntables ( Jynx ) - 2 types
The genus Jynx is not only phylogenetic in terms of the most distant from other woodpecker genera; its representatives are very different from other woodpeckers in morphology and lifestyle. On this basis, in 2012, the Swedish ornithologist P. Eriksson proposed to raise the rank of Vertichechs to the rank of the Jyngidae family - the sister taxon in relation to the Picidae family in its narrow sense [16] .
Subfamily Picumninae
The subfamily Dyatelkovye ( Picumninae ) includes 2 genera and 29 species:
- ( Picumnus ) - 26 species
- ( Sasia ) - 3 species
Sometimes the monotypic genus is also isolated ( Verreauxia ); usually the species entering it is called the ( Sasia africana ) and is thus included in the genus Sasia .
Subfamily Nesoctitinae
The subfamily Nesoctitinae includes one monotypic genus:
- ( Nesoctites ) - 1 species
Previously, this genus was included in the previous subfamily, but in the work of B. Benz, M. Robbins, and A. Peterson (2006) it was shown that this genus is a sister taxon for the Picinae subfamily and deserves isolation into an independent family [17] .
Subfamily Picinae
The subfamily True Woodpeckers ( Picinae ) includes the vast majority of genera and woodpeckers: 30 genera and 201 species.
Tribe Hemicircini
The Hemicircini tribe includes one genus:
- ( Hemicircus ) - 2 species
Tribe Campephilini
The tribe Campephilini includes 4 genera and 22 species:
- ( Blythipicus ) - 2 species
- ( Reinwardtipicus ) - 1 species
- ( Chrysocolaptes ) - 8 species
- Royal Woodpeckers ( Campephilus ) - 11 species
Phylogenetic relationships between these genera can be represented in the form of the following cladogram :
| Campephilini |
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Tribe Melanerpini
The tribe Melanerpini includes 11 genera and 95 species:
- Sucker Woodpeckers ( Sphyrapicus ) - 4 species
- Cuban Green Woodpeckers ( Xiphidiopicus ) - 1 species
- Melanerpes woodpeckers - 24 species
- Three-toed woodpeckers ( Picoides ) - 3 species
- Yungipicus - 7 species
- Leiopicus - 2 species
- Savannah Woodpeckers ( Dendropicos ) - 15 Species
- Spotted Woodpeckers ( Dendrocopos ) - 15 species
- Dryobates - 4 species
- Leuconotopicus - 6 species
- Veniliornis ( Veniliornis ) - 14 species
The tribe’s taxonomy is not stable: at the beginning of the 21st century, the genera Yungipicus and Leiopicus were isolated from the genus Dendrocopos , and the genera Dryobates and Leuconotopicus from the genus Picoides ; at the same time, the Okinawan woodpecker species (formerly distinguished into the monotypic genus Satheopipo ) is included in the genus Dendrocopos [18] .
Phylogenetic relationships between genera included in the tribe can be represented as the following cladogram :
| Melanerpini |
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Tribe Picini
The Picini tribe includes 14 genera and 82 species:
- Chrysophlegma - 3 species
- Green Woodpeckers ( Picus ) - 13 species
- Earthpeckers ( Geocolaptes ) - 1 species
- ( Campethera ) - 12 Species
- Indo-Malayan Woodpeckers ( Dinopium ) - 5 species
- ( Gecinulus ) - 2 species
- ( Micropternus ) - 1 species
- Wavy Woodpeckers ( Meiglyptes ) - 3 species
- ( Piculus ) - 7 species
- Shiloklyuvye woodpeckers ( Colaptes ) - 13 species
- ( Hylatomus ) - 4 species
- Yellow ( Dryocopus ) - 3 species
- ( Mulleripicus ) - 3 species
- ( Celeus ) - 12 species
Phylogenetic relationships between the genera forming this tribe can be represented in the form of the following cladogram :
| Picini |
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Interesting Facts
- One of the 2006 Shnobel Prizes [19] in ornithology was awarded to a researcher from California for the work “Why Doesn't Woodpecker Have a Headache?”. The scientist found that the woodpecker has a highly developed shockproof damper that protects it from headaches [20] . The work of English scientists was continued in 2010 by Chinese scientists [21] . In 2014, an article was published in the journal Science China Technological Sciences with the results of woodpecker brain protection studies. The authors concluded that 99.7% of the energy from shock loads is distributed throughout the body of the woodpecker, and only 0.3% of the impact energy remains to the brain [22] .
- In the fantastic book Wild World of the Future, woodpeckers populated mangroves on the coast and some islands in the Caribbean began to feed on marine animals [23] .
Notes
- ↑ See the Phylogeny page of the Piciformes squad on John Boyd’s website.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Naumov, 1982 , p. 255.
- ↑ 1 2 Animal Life, vol. 5, 1970 , p. 434, 442.
- ↑ Woodpeckers // Animal Kingdom. Children's Encyclopedia / Per. from English S.V. Chudova. Ed. S.P. Shatalova, V.G. Babenko. - M .: ONICS, 2000 .-- S. 119. - 256 p. - ISBN 5-249-00214-5 .
- ↑ Animal Life, vol. 5, 1970 , p. 442.
- ↑ Animal Life, vol. 5, 1970 , p. 443, 455.
- ↑ Birds of the USSR, 1967 , p. 379-380.
- ↑ Animal Life, vol. 5, 1970 , p. 443, 447, 450.
- ↑ Birds of the USSR, 1967 , p. 379.
- ↑ Birds of the USSR, 1967 , p. 379-389.
- ↑ Animal Life, vol. 5, 1970 , p. 442–444.
- ↑ Naumov, 1982 , p. 256.
- ↑ Animal Life, vol. 5, 1970 , p. 443, 456.
- ↑ Animal Life, vol. 5, 1970 , p. 442–443.
- ↑ Phylogenetic relationships between different woodpecker taxa, as well as the number of genera and species, are given on the information contained on the John Boyd website ( Phylogeny page of the Picidae family ).
- ↑ Ericsson PGP Evolution of Terrestrial Birds in Three Continents: Biogeography and Parallel Radiations // Journal of Biogeography , 39 (5), 2012 .-- P. 813-824.
- ↑ Benz BW, Robbins MB, Peterson AT Evolutionary History of Woodpeckers and Allies (Aves: Picidae): Placing Key Taxa on the Phylogenetic Tree // Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution , 40 (2), 2006. - P. 389-399. - DOI : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2006.02.021 }.
- ↑ See the Phylogeny page of the Picidae family on John Boyd’s website.
- ↑ wikinews: ru: Antinobel Prizes 2006
- ↑ Studies of adolescents and woodpeckers awarded the Antinobel Prize. . Lenta.ru (October 6, 2006). Date of treatment September 29, 2012. Archived September 29, 2012.
- ↑ Biologists have explained the invulnerability of woodpeckers for traumatic brain injuries . Lenta.ru: Progress (October 27, 2011). Date of treatment May 20, 2012. Archived June 26, 2012.
- ↑ ZhaoDan Zhu, Wei Zhang, ChengWei Wu. Energy conversion in woodpecker on successive peckings and its role on anti-shock protection of brain (Eng.) // Science China Technological Sciences. - 2014 .-- Vol. 57 , no. 7 . - P. 1269-1275 . - ISSN 1869-1900 . - DOI : 10.1007 / s11431-014-5582-5 .
- ↑ Caribbean Ark . Date of treatment May 20, 2012. Archived June 26, 2012.
Literature
- Life of animals. T. 5. Birds / Ed. N. A. Gladkova, A. V. Mikheeva. - M .: Education, 1970 .-- 611 p.
- Naumov S.P. Zoology of vertebrates. 4th ed. - M .: Enlightenment, 1982.- 464 p.
- Birds of the USSR / V. E. Flint, R. L. Boehme, Yu. V. Kostin, A. A. Kuznetsov. Ed. G.P. Dementieva. - M .: Thought , 1967 .-- 637 p. - (Reference guides to the geographer and traveler).
- Winkler H., Christie DA, Nurnie D. Woodpeckers: A Guide to the Woodpeckers of the World. - Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1995 .-- ISBN 978-0-395-72043-1 . .
Links
- Woodpeckers . nashvillezoo.org. Date of treatment May 20, 2012. Archived June 26, 2012.
- Woodpeckers // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
- Woodpeckers of the CIS . Date of treatment May 16, 2012. Archived June 26, 2012.
- Picidae family phylogeny on John Boyd’s site