Piciformes

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

The woodpeckers ( Piciformes ) are an order of birds. The order is divided into two suborders, the brilliant bird -like ( Galbuloidea ), of which there are about 55 species, and the woodpecker -like ( Picoidea ) with 355 species, divided.

Features

Woodpeckers are small, compact birds. They have a short neck and a rounded head. The beaks of species vary greatly, from banana-shaped beak of the toucan beak hook for the Puffbirds. The wings are short and broad, in some species, but also long and pointed. The tail of the woodpecker birds is spatulate or fan-shaped. Your feet are relatively short, the toes are arranged in pairs with the first and fourth point to the rear, and the second and third forward. The birds have a bare eye ring.

Way of life

Woodpecker birds often sit lazily on branches and sunbathe. Most feed on insects, Toucans eat fruit, honey indicators capture the larvae of bees and Imagen and also feed on the honey. The animals are cavity nesters, they beat them with their beaks (sometimes with the feet) in trees, slopes and in the nests of arboreal termites. They lay two to four white eggs. Their young hatch already with downy feathers.

Habitat and Distribution

While the bird -like splendor of tropical America are limited, woodpecker -like worldwide are living with the exception of Antarctica, Madagascar, Australia and the islands of the tropical Pacific. They inhabit all types of forests and tree savannas. In very dry areas they are missing.

System

Order: Piciformes ( Piciformes )

• Subordination: Glossy bird -like ( Galbuloidea ) Family: Puffbirds ( Bucconidae )
• Family: Jacamars ( Galbulidae )

• Family: Asian barbets ( Megalaimidae )
• Family: African barbets ( Lybiidae )
• Family: American barbets ( Capitonidae )
• Family: toucan - barbets ( Semnornithidae )
• Family: toucans ( Ramphastidae )
• Family: Honey Guide ( Indicatoridae )
• Family: Woodpeckers ( Picidae ) Subfamily: turncoats ( Jynginae )
• Subfamily: True woodpeckers or support tail woodpeckers ( Picinae )
• Subfamily: dwarf woodpeckers or soft tail woodpeckers ( Picumninae )