Colaptes

Colaptes is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The 14 extant species are found across the Americas.

Colaptes woodpeckers typically have a brown or green back and wings with black barring, and a beige to yellowish underside, with black spotting or barring. There are usually colorful markings on the head. Many of these birds – particularly the northerly species – are more terrestrial than usual among woodpeckers.

Historically, there has been considerable uncertainty in assigning woodpecker species to genera and it is only by comparing DNA sequences that it has become possible to confidently place many of the species.

Taxonomy

The genus Colaptes was introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825 with the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) as the type species. The name is from the Ancient Greek κολάπτης (kolaptēs) meaning "chiseller".

The genus forms part of the woodpecker subfamily Picinae and has a sister relationship to the genus Piculus. The genus Colaptes is a member of the tribe Picini and belongs to a clade that contains five genera: Colaptes, Piculus, Mulleripicus, Dryocopus and Celeus. Some of the relationships between the species within Colaptes are uncertain, with various genetic studies reporting slightly different phylogenies, but it is evident that those species with "flicker" in their common name do not form a monophyletic group.

The genus Colaptes contains 15 species. Of these, one species, the Bermuda flicker, is now extinct:

Image	Common name	Scientific name	Distribution
File:Colaptes rubiginosus Carpintero cariblanco Golden-olive Woodpecker (female) (8598133565).jpg	Golden-olive woodpecker	Colaptes rubiginosus	east to Guyana, northwestern Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago
File:Bronze-winged woodpecker (Colaptes rubiginosus).jpg	Bronze-winged woodpecker	Colaptes aeruginosus	northeastern Mexico from Tamaulipas to northern Veracruz
File:Colaptes auricularis 2945161.jpg	Grey-crowned woodpecker	Colaptes auricularis	Mexico
File:Crimson-mantled Woodpecker - Colombia S4E2671.jpg	Crimson-mantled woodpecker	Colaptes rivolii	Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela
File:Black-necked Woodpecker (Colaptes atricollis).jpg	Black-necked woodpecker	Colaptes atricollis	Peru
File:Colaptes punctigula Carpintero pechipunteado Spot-breasted Woodpecker (female) (12978805715).jpg	Spot-breasted woodpecker	Colaptes punctigula	Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela; also in eastern Panama
File:Colaptes melanochloros -Bataguassu, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil-8.jpg	Green-barred woodpecker	Colaptes melanochloros	Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay
File:Northern Flicker (29639725760).jpg	Northern flicker	Colaptes auratus	North America, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and parts of Central America
File:Gilded Flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) on top of cactus.jpg	Gilded flicker	Colaptes chrysoides	southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico
File:Colaptes auratus mexicanoides 84221588.jpg	Guatemalan flicker	Colaptes mexicanoides	southern Mexico to Nicaragua
File:Female. Fernandina's Flicker. Colaptes fernandinae, Endemic - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg	Fernandina's flicker	Colaptes fernandinae	Cuba
File:Pitío, Malalcahuello 19jul15.jpg	Chilean flicker	Colaptes pitius	Argentina and Chile
File:Colaptes rupicola 20070123.jpg	Andean flicker	Colaptes rupicola	Peru, Chile, eastern Bolivia and northeastern Argentina
File:Campo Flicker - Flickr - GregTheBusker (1).jpg	Campo flicker	Colaptes campestris	Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northeastern Argentina, Suriname

• † Bermuda flicker (Colaptes oceanicus) – extinct, but may have survived into historical times - formerly Bermuda

External links

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