piciform

piciform [pi′sə fôrm΄]

adj.

of, or having the nature of, an order (Piciformes) of birds, including woodpeckers and toucans, having two front and two hind toes for clinging to vertical surfaces

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▪ bird

Introduction

 any member of the group of birds (bird) that includes the familiar woodpeckers (woodpecker) and their relatives the piculets (piculet) and wrynecks (wryneck) (that collectively make up the family Picidae) and the exotic tropical jacamars (jacamar) (Galbulidae), puffbirds (puffbird) (Bucconidae), barbets (barbet) (Capitonidae), honey guides (honey guide) (Indicatoridae), and toucans (toucan) (Ramphastidae). This arboreal group of approximately 400 species is distributed on all continents except Australia and Antarctica, but only the woodpecker family is widespread outside the tropics. Although six families make up the order, the true woodpeckers of the family Picidae account for over half of the species.

      The order includes such familiar birds as the European great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) and green woodpecker (Picus viridis) and the American flicker (Colaptes auratus) and downy woodpecker (D. pubescens). Piciforms are economically important because they include many insect-eating species. A few species, eating fruit (toucans) or damaging trees (sapsuckers (sapsucker), genus Sphyrapicus), can conflict with human activities, but even these species eat some insects and other animals and, of course, serve as part of the natural balance within ecological systems.

      The tropical distribution of most piciform families suggests that these represent specialized remnants of a once more numerous and diverse array of arboreal birds. Perhaps many elements of the order became extinct during the geologically recent burgeoning of the diverse, ubiquitous, and highly successful order Passeriformes (passeriform), which the piciforms resemble in many ways.

      Piciform species vary in size from about 9 to more than 60 cm (3.5 to 24 inches) in overall length. They vary greatly in the structure of their beaks (beak) and only slightly less in the rest of their morphology; some, such as the huge-billed toucans and the sturdy woodpeckers, are very specialized. The specialized habits of the wax-eating honey guides are unique among birds. The most numerous and widely distributed groups, the barbets (about 90 species) and the woodpeckers (about 200 species), excavate their own nesting cavities, thereby avoiding competition with other birds and, incidentally, providing homes for many other species of vertebrates.

Importance to humans

      Most piciform birds (bird) consume insects, some foraging in places (within bark) reached by no other birds. Thus, they are valuable in the control of insects, even helping to prevent the spread of tree diseases, such as Dutch elm disease, by destroying insect carriers. Fruit-eating barbets (barbet) and toucans (toucan) spread seeds of certain tropical trees, the seeds being passed through their bodies at distances away from the parent tree. Honey guides (honey guide) lead humans, as well as other mammals, to sources of honey. Colourful toucans, barbets, and jacamars (jacamar) and even the dull-coloured puffbirds (puffbird) delight both natives of and visitors to the tropics. Woodpeckers (woodpecker) are conspicuous and often colourful species of the forest, and their actions have long elicited interest and admiration from man—their winter visits to suet feeders in the Northern Hemisphere are anticipated and enjoyed by millions of onlookers. The excavation of nesting and roosting holes by woodpeckers and barbets provides homes for countless birds of other species, which utilize the holes after the excavators are finished with them. Foresters in Europe frequently compensate for the lack of old woodpecker holes needed by valued insect-eating species by placing artificial nest boxes in their cultivated forests.

      Fruit eating by barbets and toucans sometimes causes damage to cultivated fruit plants, especially near villages and towns. The few species of sapsuckers (sapsucker) in North America and southern Asia occasionally destroy trees by creating openings through which disease agents may enter, although wounds in healthy trees rapidly heal. Piciform birds that excavate their nests usually choose dead or dying trees, but some excavate in live trees or cacti. The area around the excavation may be sealed off by scar tissue in some trees, especially cacti, resulting in no damage but diminishing the tree's value. Some woodpeckers damage fence posts and utility poles, particularly in open country, in well-kept woodlots, and near cultivated forests where dead trees are scarce.

Natural history

Distribution and ecology

      Piciform birds (bird) are varied in their habits, although certain facets of behaviour relating to hole nesting, such as the snakelike hissing of young birds in the nest, are shared with some other hole-nesting birds. Jacamars (jacamar) and puffbirds (puffbird), the fly-catching members of the order, are stolid, unsuspicious birds, allowing close approach by humans. Woodpeckers (woodpecker), toucans (toucan), and barbets (barbet) are more wary, but the smaller species of piculets (piculet) and woodpeckers sometimes can be approached closely.

      Jacamars and puffbirds inhabit various portions of tropical American forests. Jacamars sit quietly on perches in openings and edges, flying infrequently but often flicking their tails. Large insects, such as butterflies, are captured, taken to a perch, and usually beaten against it. The wings of the insects are removed if the prey are to be fed to the young.

      Puffbirds are often found in farm areas, where they may be seen along the road looking something like dull-coloured forest kingfishers (kingfisher). They have a rapid, darting flight, and some species, such as the swallow-winged puffbird (Chelidoptera tenebrosa), spend much time making sorties after insects high in the trees. Others forage low in bushes, obtaining prey on the ground as well as in undergrowth. Tail-jerking movements are observed in some puffbirds (such as the two-banded puffbird, Hypnelus bicinctus), as in jacamars.

      The barbets are weak-flying, essentially resident birds inhabiting woodland and savannas, occasionally the fringes of deserts. They feed on insects, fruit, and even flowers and buds. The tiny African tinkerbirds (Pogoniulus), so named for their repetitive vocalizations, feed mainly or entirely on insects, foraging rapidly over bark and occasionally tapping with the beak, very much like piculets of the woodpecker family. Some barbets have serrated, or “toothed,” edges of the bill, in the manner of toucans; these are apparently used for tearing open fruit.

      Honey guides (honey guide) are nonmigratory birds, dwelling in pairs or alone in forests and savanna. They feed on insects, fruit, and beeswax. Only a few honey guides of the genus Indicator actually are known to “guide” certain mammals, including man, to bees' nests. Most honey guides are able to enter bees' nests without assistance, there to eat larvae and, primarily, wax, which is digested with the help of special bacteria within the birds' digestive tracts. Honey guides use a peculiar chattering to attract the attention of an animal likely to follow. The greater honey guide (I. indicator) spreads its tail conspicuously and uses a peculiar undulating flight in attracting attention. It perches and calls again, then moves further on in another short flight as the interested animal draws near. Upon reaching the bees' nest, the honey guide waits quietly in the vicinity until the animal has taken the honey and moved off. It then flies to the devastated nest and feeds on scattered pieces of wax and exposed larvae.

      Toucans are strictly New World tropical forest birds, although they may forage about farms. One group, the hill toucans of the genus Andigena, occurs in the Andes up into temperate forests. No toucans are geographically migratory, but some species make local movements up and down mountain slopes. Toucans eat much fruit, perhaps aided by their serrated beaks. Smaller pieces or small fruits are first held in the tip of the bill and then thrown back into the mouth. They also eat larger insects, birds' eggs, and even young birds. The colour patterns of the bill are distinct in each species and probably serve a behavioral function. Toucans have a peculiar habit of cocking the tail forward over the head, particularly while sleeping in a cavity; D'Arnaud's barbet (Trachyphonus darnaudii) also does this during displays.

      The family Picidae comprises three distinct subfamilies. One, the Jynginae, contains two closely related species of wrynecks (wryneck) (Jynx), found in Eurasia and central Africa. Wrynecks, which have soft, unspecialized tails, forage for ants in trees and on the ground.

      The piculets (Picumninae) constitute a second subfamily of soft-tailed, woodpecker-like birds. Most species live in forests and dry woodlands of the New World tropics. The major genus Picumnus is peculiarly distributed in having all but one species in the New World and one isolated species (P. innominatus, the speckled piculet) in southern Asia, a pattern of distribution matched by the woodpecker genus Celeus. All the piculets are tiny, the largest—the peculiar Haitian piculet (Nesoctites micromegas)—being only sparrow-sized. They feed in a woodpecker-like manner, tapping and probing usually on small branchlets and vines, and they allow close approach, continuing to forage under the eyes of an observer. Their food is composed mainly or entirely of insects.

 The true woodpeckers (Picinae), with their stiffened tails, usually perch lengthwise on tree branches or trunks. Among the relatively few species that go to the ground, all hop, except for two species of flickers (flicker) (campo flicker, Colaptes campestris, and Andean flicker, C. rupicola) that walk. Foraging is by diverse modes. True excavating, which penetrates the substrate of the bark, is not as common as one would expect on viewing the woodpecker bill. Most woodpeckers forage mainly by gleaning items from the surface of a tree, by probing into cracks, and by occasional to frequent tapping, sufficient to break barely through the surface. Only the heavy-billed, so-called ivorybills (ivory-billed woodpecker) (genus Campephilus) of the New World, some of their relatives, other similarly specialized Asian groups, and a few of the smaller woodpeckers (genus Picoides; some species of Dendrocopos) regularly chisel deep into trees. The food of woodpeckers is varied, mainly consisting of insects, but some species (especially of the genus Melanerpes) frequently eat fruits and berries. Ants are a favourite food, especially in tropical regions; fully half of the numerous tropical species feed largely or entirely on ants. Three woodpeckers (ground woodpecker, Geocolaptes olivaceus of Africa, the campo flicker, and the Andean flicker) are ground dwellers, feeding mostly on ants, while seven or eight other species frequently forage on the ground. The flight of woodpeckers is strong, with definite up-down undulations.

      Most woodpeckers are permanent residents, the few exceptions including the North American yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) and flicker, which are highly migratory.

Reproduction

      The ability of most piciform birds to excavate their own nest holes is probably a major factor responsible for their success. With relatively diverse types of bills, the jacamars, puffbirds, and barbets excavate nesting cavities, as do the sturdier billed woodpeckers, although the former utilize a softer substrate such as earth or dead trees. Woodpeckers alone within the order have biologically capitalized on their adaptations for excavating nests, by various further specializations for nesting (even in hard, living trees) and for foraging on the surface and within the bark of trees. They have thus exploited niches unavailable to other birds, a fact that accounts for their success relative to other members of the order. Yet because of their specialized habits, only a limited number of kinds of woodpeckers can exist together, usually no more than five to eight species (more in some tropical environments) differing somewhat in size and habits.

      Because of the concealing nature of the nest cavity, the behaviour of hole-nesting birds is more difficult to study than that of species building exposed nests. The nesting behaviour of most piciform families must be inferred from observations on a few examples, the woodpeckers being the only group that has been extensively studied.

      Jacamars are usually resident wherever they occur and nest at diverse times of the year depending on the locality. Nests are excavated in banks or in steep hills. Both sexes dig with the beak, kicking out dirt with their feet. The tunnel is comparatively short, usually less than 1 metre (3 feet) in depth. No lining is placed in the nest chamber at the end of the tunnel. Three or four white eggs are incubated by both sexes, with the female incubating at night. The incubation period of several species of jacamars is known to be from 19 to 21 days. The young are downy and hatch with their eyes closed. They remain for 20 to 26 days in their nest before leaving. Most of the food is made up of large insects brought to the young by both parents. The parents do not clean debris and fecal material of the young from the nest, which becomes littered.

      Puffbirds excavate their nests in the ground or in termite nests on the ground or in trees. The tunnel is usually deeper than that of a jacamar, often reaching a metre or more into the ground. Several pairs may nest close together, semicolonially. Both sexes excavate the burrow. Some species leave the chamber at the end of the tunnel unlined, while others may line it with grass or dead leaves. Several species, including the white-whiskered puffbird (Malacoptila panamensis), pile sticks and leaves at the mouth of the nest tunnel, effectively concealing it. Both sexes incubate the two (occasionally three) white eggs. The newly hatched young are naked and are fed by both parents.

      Although the majority of barbets nest in isolated pairs, there is a marked trend toward sociality. Large numbers of one or several species may gather to feed at a fruiting tree. Some species are found in family groups, and displaying groups of several individuals may be seen during the onset of breeding. The most social of all are the plain-coloured barbets (genus Gymnobucco) of Africa, the brown barbet (Calorhamphus fuliginosus) of southeastern Asia, and some species of the genus Megalaima of southern Asia. These nest colonially and feed in gatherings of up to 50 or more birds (Gymnobucco). They are aggressive, noisy birds and may take over an entire dead tree for nesting, driving away other bird species. In some barbets of the genera Semnornis and Megalaima, communal roosting occurs, with numbers of birds spending the night together in the same hole. Nests are usually excavated in trees, but a few species burrow into the ground or into termite nests. Both sexes excavate the cavity, which typically has a nearly round entrance, small for the size of the bird. The same cavity may be used for several nesting seasons. No lining material is placed in the nest cavity. The shape of the barbet's bill, which is not at all chisel-tipped like that of a woodpecker, makes the excavation of cavities in trees a task requiring great effort, and it appears that only dead, well-rotted trees are used. Two to five white eggs are laid in the cavity; both parents then incubate the eggs for 13 to 15 days or more. Both also may spend the night in the nest. The young develop slowly, spending 30 or more days in the nest. The adults clean the nest, removing excreta. Often the young and adults continue to roost together after the young have left the nest, occupying a separate “dormitory” hole excavated for that purpose. On occasions, more than one pair of birds may use the same nest (white-eared tinkerbird, Pogoniulus leucotus).

      Most if not all of the honey guides are brood parasites, laying their eggs in the nests of other species, especially those that nest in holes or in deep, covered nests. The host's eggs often are punctured by the female honey guide when she lays her own egg. Only a single egg is laid in each host's nest. Because of the parasitic habit, the incubation periods of honey guides are not well known, but periods of 12 to 16 days have been found in species of Indicator. The young birds spend a long time in the nest, 35 to 40 days or more. When newly hatched, they have hooks on the tips of their bills, which are used to injure and kill the young of the host species. These hooks later fall off.

      Toucans nest in natural cavities or in old woodpecker nests. Smaller species may usurp a nest freshly constructed by woodpeckers. Old, well-rotted cavities may be enlarged slightly. One to four eggs are laid on the floor of the nest, which may be unlined or lined with a few leaves. About 16 days are required for incubation, performed by both sexes. The birds are shy about the nest and hence difficult to observe. The young, naked when hatched, bear large pads on their heels, on which they perch in the nest. The nestling period is generally long, up to seven weeks or more, varying with the size of the birds. Toucans, except the toucanets (toucanet) (genus Aulacorhynchus), do not maintain clean nests. Family groups may remain together for a long time, for small flocks are often seen throughout the year.

      Wrynecks usually nest in natural crevices, old woodpecker holes, or old swallow holes in banks. They lay 2 to 14 eggs, and both sexes incubate. Like the American flicker and probably other woodpeckers, the wryneck is an indeterminate layer; that is, it produces eggs until a certain number have accumulated.

      The nests of piculets are constructed in small trees, stubs, fence posts, and the like. The entrance is tiny and rounded, resembling a barbet nest entrance. Two to four eggs are laid and incubated for about two weeks. The initially blind and naked young grow for three weeks or more before leaving the nest for the first time. Both parents incubate and feed the young, and in at least some species they both remain in the nest at night. After fledging, the young may continue to roost in the nest at night with their parents for several months. Like the wrynecks and most other birds and unlike woodpeckers, the piculets often perch crosswise on branches.

      The reproductive behaviour of woodpeckers is better known than that of most other Piciformes. The sexes are clearly marked by simple pattern differences, most commonly involving the presence or absence of red on the head. Observations at bird-feeding stations suggest that sexual recognition occurs throughout the year, with males dominant over females. Aggressive displays (display behaviour) are conspicuous and numerous in woodpeckers, including various head postures centring on the bill, bill pointing, head turning, swinging of the head and body from side to side, bobbing and bowing of the head, wing flicking and spreading, tail spreading and turning, and even aerial displays. These displays exhibit the complex head markings, as well as the body, tail, and wing patterns found in most species. Many vocal and instrumental signals are used, including the widely prevalent tapping or drumming of the bill against a tree or, in cities, on tin roofing.

      Most woodpeckers actively defend territories (territorial behaviour), often throughout the year. This perhaps accounts for their strongly developed aggressive behaviour. Few species are markedly social, but members of the New World genus Melanerpes especially tend to be, even while nesting. Up to 11 different adults of the yellow-tufted woodpecker (M. cruentatus) were observed feeding young in three different nests in eastern Peru. Some of the adults fed young in two and even in all three nests. Andean flickers nest in loose colonies in banks and may be seen in groups of 10 or 12 birds. Otherwise, social gatherings of woodpeckers generally involve family groups during and sometimes after the breeding season. Most woodpeckers are aggressive toward others of their own species, even to some extent toward their mates and young. Aggressive encounters are most frequent between members of the same sex. When an intruding woodpecker invades the territory of a pair during the breeding season, it usually is attacked by the member of the pair that is of the same sex as the intruder. Conflicts between birds after the breeding period are more intense when the woodpeckers involved are of the same sex. Experiments with the North American flicker show that even paired birds recognize each other primarily by their sexual colour markings (coloration). For example, a female given an artificial black moustache stripe (characteristic of the male) was attacked and pursued unceasingly by her mate until the experimenter rescued the exhausted female and removed the “moustache.” She was once again fully accepted by her mate.

      Nests are excavated by the birds themselves, although a few species will accept artificial nest boxes. Two species, the ground woodpecker and the Andean flicker, always nest in the ground, digging nests in banks, and the campo flicker of South America often does so. Other woodpeckers chisel holes in trees, fence poles, cacti, or similar sites. Usually both sexes construct the nest, but either sex may do most of the work, depending on the species. The nest cavity varies with the size of the bird. A flicker 30 cm (12 inches) long was found incubating eggs in a tree stub only 12 cm (5 inches) thick, so less space is required for nesting than one might expect. Nevertheless, the size of the stub or tree necessary for nesting is proportional to the size of the woodpecker. Also, the size and abundance of dead or dying trees influence the abundance and types of woodpeckers that can occupy an area.

      From two to nine white eggs are laid on the bare floor of the woodpecker's nest cavity. Most species probably are indeterminate layers. By removing the freshly laid eggs as they appeared daily, one experimenter induced a female flicker to lay a total of 71 eggs. The incubation period of woodpeckers varies from 11 to 20 or more days. Both adults incubate the eggs, and typically the male alone occupies the nest during the night. The young are naked and helpless when hatched and spend up to 36 days in the nest. Both parents feed the young and keep the nest clean by removing excreta frequently. In some species the young are driven off by the adults soon after they can feed themselves; in others the family remains together longer, sometimes even until the next breeding season.

Vocalizations (vocalization)

      The voices of Piciformes are rarely melodious and are often harsh or strident. The vocalizations of jacamars are squeaky, the notes sometimes being run together into a trill. Whistles or trills may be alternated or mixed, forming a simple song. Puffbirds are relatively quiet, producing thin whistles, peeps, and twitters. The vocalizations of toucans are loud and often harsh, especially those of the larger species, such as those in the genus Ramphastos. The calls of barbets are monotonous and repetitive, but some are bell-like and pleasing to the ear, especially those rendered antiphonally (that is, in alternation) or simultaneously by members of a pair. Displays may accompany this singing. With some colour patterns like their relatives the woodpeckers, barbets have similar displays, such as head swinging, head bobbing, bill pointing, and others.

      Although the vocalizations of woodpeckers are individually less complicated than the songs of passeriform birds (the order that includes the songbirds), up to eight or nine different and varying calls may be used by some species (such as the ladder-backed woodpecker, D. scalaris). These function as “advertising songs” (usually repetitive, often harsh “rattle” or “wick” calls), as aggressive or submissive calls associated with displays, and in other ways.

Form and function

      Adapted for diverse modes of life, piciform birds (bird) vary strikingly in their morphology and in their habits. The interpretation of differences is difficult in many cases, especially considering that different structural means may achieve the same purpose. Thus, the fly-catching jacamars (jacamar) are exceptionally long-tailed, but the puffbirds (puffbird), which feed similarly, are generally short-tailed.

      Characteristic of all members of the order is the yoke-toed (zygodactylous) foot in which the outer toe (toe IV) as well as the hind toe (I) points to the rear. This was long considered an adaptation to climbing or perching on the vertical trunks of trees, but recent studies have shown that this type of toe arrangement may really denote a generalized perching foot. Most of the strongly wood-pecking species of the Picidae that are four-toed spread the toes laterally and anteriorly—that is, up the tree that they are climbing, with no toes pointing to the rear. Some woodpeckers (woodpecker), such as the three-toed woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus), which have lost the hind toe (hallux, toe I), climb with all three toes facing to the front and sides and swing the inner toe (II) backward when perching on a branch. The hallux tends to be small in those Picidae that have retained it, and its loss has occurred independently in several lines of woodpeckers and piculets (piculet).

      Just as birds in general are structurally similar because of requirements imposed by flight, woodpeckers are structurally similar because of requirements imposed by wood-pecking habits. The special modifications responsible for their unique abilities are diverse. The tail feathers (feather) (especially the central one or two pairs) are stronger in woodpeckers, resisting the wear caused by their use in propping up the body of the bird as it hammers with its bill. The toe structure and associated arrangement of tendons and leg muscles form a functional complex of features enabling the woodpecker to climb tree trunks and to maintain its position while pecking the tree.

 Another functional complex involves the skull, head musculature, bill, tongue, and associated structures of the woodpecker—collectively, its food-gathering apparatus. The skull is unusually thick, and, in the most specialized wood-pecking species, it curves inward at the upper base of the bill instead of meeting it directly, giving the bird a built-in shock absorber. The head musculature is specialized to power the thrusts of the bill and to help absorb the shock caused by pecking. The long, distensible tongue is variously equipped with tiny barbs and coated with a sticky substance provided by often greatly enlarged and modified salivary glands. The horns of the hyoid apparatus responsible for the ability to extend the tongue are tremendously elongated, and, when the tongue is retracted, they often extend around the back of the skull, over the top, and (rarely) even onto the bill and into a nostril. The tongue can be extended into holes made by the bill (beak) and can be used both as a probe and as a “spear” (by means of the barbs and sticky mucus) to locate and extract insects far beyond the bill's reach. The bill of more-specialized woodpeckers is chisel-tipped, broad-based, and very sturdy. The nostrils are slitlike, preventing sawdust and wood chips from entering. Other parts of the body may be modified for support or to prevent damage from the shock of pecking.

 An advantageous side effect of their specialization is that woodpeckers are exceptionally tough-skinned and sturdy and thus are difficult to kill. Unfortunately, this has not saved the magnificent, highly specialized ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) and its close relative the imperial woodpecker (C. imperialis), the largest of all woodpeckers, from near extinction through destruction and modification of habitat. By the early 21st century, the ivory-billed woodpecker was listed as critically endangered, although many believed that it was extinct. In 2005, however, a team of researchers announced that the bird had been seen in eastern Arkansas. The imperial woodpecker is critically endangered and possibly extinct.

      Among woodpeckers, sexual difference in bill structure and other characteristics plays a role in allowing the members of a pair to utilize somewhat different types of food, presumably facilitating more efficient foraging.

      Of the other piciform families, the Indicatoridae are specialized in features, such as their thick skin, relating to their beeswax eating and brood parasitism. Other peculiarities, such as the graduated long tail of the lyre-tailed honey guide (Melichneutes robustus) and the presence of but nine primaries (there is usually some trace of a 10th primary feather) in the wings of most honey guides, are more difficult to interpret functionally.

      The bill of the toucans (toucan), another specialized group, is something of an anomaly. Very large, with serrate edges and usually splashed with colour, it is peculiarly constructed within. Many crisscrossing, fine, bony fibres give it great strength for its size and light weight. The serrated bill may be effective in tearing open fruits, although the birds often feed on small fruits daintily picked, held at the tip of the bill, and thrown back into the mouth. Alternatively, the serrations may aid in securing insects or in plucking young birds out of nests. The colour patterns of the bill probably function as species-recognition signals or in some other way during displays. Yet the size of the bill seems greater than necessary for these functions. Studies of the feeding habits of the larger species may enable the solution of this point.

Evolution and paleontology

      Fossil species of the order Piciformes are almost unknown. Many avian fossils identified long ago are in need of verification, including the early fossil “woodpeckers (woodpecker),” some of which are now believed to belong in other orders. Fossil woodpeckers are now known only from the Pliocene Epoch (5.3–1.8 million years ago). Except for a single specimen from the middle Miocene of Bavaria assigned to the Capitonidae, the other recent families have no fossil records. A fossil family, Zygodactylidae, was erected in 1971 to receive three species of fossil piciform birds (bird) from the Miocene of western Europe.

      The dearth of fossils leaves the evolution of existing groups open to speculation. If it is true that existing families of the order are only specialized remnants of a formerly more diverse assemblage, then the generalized groups that might have included common ancestors of some of the modern families are now extinct. Therefore, the evolution of the order must be interpreted from inferences based on the morphology of its existing families.

      Little can be said about the puffbirds (puffbird) and jacamars (jacamar). Both families are relatively uniform, and no existing species shows intermediacy or close resemblance between them. They must have evolved very early in the history of the order from a generalized fly-catching ancestor. If suborders Galbulae and Pici are indeed closely related, their divergence from a common ancestor must have occurred long ago.

      The families within the suborder Pici are definitely interrelated. The honey guides and barbets (barbet) are morphologically similar, as are the toucans and barbets. The barbets are rather diverse, foliage and branch-foraging piciform birds, and the New World barbets are more closely related to the toucans than they are to the barbets of the Old World. Woodpeckers and barbets share an ancestor probably dating from an earlier period than either the barbet-toucan or the barbet–honey guide ancestor. The peculiar wrynecks (wryneck), and even the piculets (piculet), may represent relicts of early evolutionary radiations in the line leading to woodpeckers. Modern woodpeckers have radiated into many groups, some specializing for an arboreal wood-pecking existence, others remaining generalized, and still others becoming partially adapted to life on the ground.

Classification

Distinguishing taxonomic features

      Various characteristics set the Piciformes apart from other orders and distinguish subgroups within this order. Among these features are the condition of the toes and their flexor tendons; the condition of the nostrils; the absence of basipterygoid processes at the base of the skull; the arrangement of the pelvic muscles; the size of the deltoid muscle; and the condition of the syringeal muscles.

Annotated classification

Order Piciformes

 Zygodactylous birds (toes arranged 2 in front and 2 behind); flexor tendons with a vinculum (a connecting strip), digits I, II and IV supplied by flexor hallucis, and flexor digitorum supplies digit III; nostrils impervious and holorhinal (not deeply cleft); eutaxic (5th secondary present), 9 to 11 primaries, 10 to 13 secondaries; 8 to 12 rectrices (tail feathers); aftershaft present; no down in adults; hole-nesting birds, laying all-white eggs. Approximately 400 species.

      Suborder Galbulae

 Desmognathous (vomer bone of palate small or lacking; maxillopalatines connecting); nude oil gland; 2 carotid arteries; no gallbladder; 10 primaries, 10 to 12 secondaries, 10 to 12 rectrices. Catch food, usually insects, on wing; nest in ground or termite nest.

      Family Galbulidae (jacamars (jacamar))

 Tropical and subtropical Central and South America. Bill long. Vomer lacking. Legs with long smooth scales behind and scutellate (small scales) in front. Moderately sized, long-tailed birds with iridescent plumage dominated by green. Feed by fly catching for large insects. Nest in burrows excavated in banks. 5 genera, 18 species.

      Family Bucconidae (puffbirds (puffbird))

 Tropical and subtropical Central and South America. Distinguished by a shorter, wider bill than jacamars, with a decurved tip. Vomer present. Leg scales scutellate in front and behind. Moderate or small-sized, dull-coloured birds with an unusually large head, plumage lax and noniridescent. Feed by fly catching for insects and other arthropods and vertebrates as well. Nest in burrows in the ground, in termite nests on the ground, or in trees. About 10 genera and approximately 34 species.

      Suborder Pici

 Rarely desmognathous, usually aegithognathous (vomer broad; maxillopalatines not connecting) or saurognathous (vomer a delicate rod; maxillopalatines reduced, not connecting); oil gland usually feathered; 9 to 11 primaries, 10 to 13 secondaries, 10 to 12 rectrices. Nest in tree cavity, rarely in ground. Food diverse, secured by various means, but rarely by fly catching.

      Family Indicatoridae (honey guides (honey guide))

 Tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia. Small bill, not chisel-like; short, nonextensible tongue; nostrils opening onto bill in centres of large fossae, and without conspicuous bristles at base of bill. Small or medium, generally dull-coloured birds with smallish heads. Consumes beeswax and insects. Brood parasites, laying eggs in nests of other birds, especially piciform birds. About 16 species.

      Family Capitonidae (barbets (barbet))

 Tropical and subtropical New World, Africa, and Asia. Small to medium bill, not chisel-like; short, nonextensible tongue; nostrils opening onto bill surface without a fossa (depression); conspicuous bristles at base of bill. Small to medium, usually brightly coloured birds of stocky appearance. Food fruit or insects, often gleaned from tree bark or foliage. Nest hole in trees or termite nests, usually excavated by the birds. 13 genera and about 92 species.

      Family Ramphastidae (toucans (toucan))

 Tropical to temperate Central and South America. Distinguished by a long and often deep and brightly coloured bill, with serrated edges. Tongue nonextensible but long and fringed. Medium to large, long-tailed and often brightly coloured birds. Food mainly fruit, also insects, even eggs and small birds. Nest in natural tree cavities or woodpecker holes, never excavated. 6 genera, about 40 species.

      Family Picidae (woodpeckers (woodpecker), piculets (piculet), wrynecks (wryneck))

 Generally worldwide, except Australian region. Distinguished by a straight, usually chisel-like bill, long extensible tongue with elongated hyoid (tongue) apparatus, salivary glands secreting a sticky material that coats the tongue. Very small to large birds, often patterned in black, white, and bright colours. Forage on tree trunks and branches, rarely on the ground. Food chiefly insects, some fruit, rarely sap and seeds. Nest excavated (except wrynecks) in tree, post, cactus, or (rarely) in the ground. About 30 genera and approximately 218 species.

Critical appraisal

      Although recognizing the relationship of this order to perching birds (bird) (Passeriformes (passeriform)), most taxonomists prefer to keep the two groups separate as distinct orders, especially since clear evidence for relationship with a particular group of perching birds is lacking. No perching bird has the zygodactyl toe arrangement.

      Ornithologists agree that the jacamars (jacamar) and puffbirds (puffbird) are related within the suborder Galbulae, but the exact relationship between the suborders Galbulae and Pici has not been established. In addition, some ornithologists advocate a relationship of the jacamars and puffbirds (suborder Galbulae) with the Coraciiformes (coraciiform) (kingfishers (kingfisher), bee-eaters (bee-eater), etc.) or the merger of the Pici in the Passeriformes. Other ornithologists support the placement of the families Galbulidae and Bucconidae in their own order, Galbuliformes.

      The barbets are generally recognized as the least specialized group within suborder Pici and the most likely ancestral family. The honey guides are almost universally considered very closely related to barbets and are placed next. There is agreement that the specialized toucans, placed next, evolved from New World barbet ancestors. In some classifications the barbet species of Africa and Asia, the African barbets and the Old World barbets are treated as separate families, Lybiidae and Megalaimidae, respectively. The exact relationship of the specialized woodpecker family with barbets is unknown, but it is likely that either woodpeckers evolved from barbets or that the two groups shared a common ancestor.

Lester L. Short

Additional Reading

Herbert Friedmann, The Honey-Guides (1955), is a technical but readable account of the habits and relationships of honey guides. J. Van Tyne, The Life History of the Toucan, Ramphastos brevicarinatus (1929), provides a good, though technical, account of the habits of a large toucan. Journal articles on various species include Alexander F. Skutch, “Life-History of the Blackchinned Jacamar,” Auk, 54:135–146 (1937), the only relatively complete study of a species of jacamar, “Life History Notes on Puff-Birds,” Wilson Bulletin, 60:81–97 (1948), which, though not complete on any species, contains most of the information known about the habits of puffbirds, “Life History of the Blue-Throated Toucanet,” Wilson Bulletin, 56:133–151 (1944), a very readable study of another small toucan, “The Life-History of the Prong-Billed Barbet,” Auk, 61:61–88 (1944), a reasonably complete account of the habits of a barbet, one of few extant detailed accounts, and “Life History of the Olivaceous Piculet and Related Forms,” Ibis, 90:433–449 (1948), an interesting account of the habits of these little relatives of the woodpeckers; H.O. Wagner, “Notes on the Life History of the Emerald Toucanet,” Wilson Bulletin, 56:65–76 (1944), a general account of the habits of a small toucan; and S.D. Ripley, “The Barbets,” Auk, 62:542–563 (1945), chiefly a taxonomic, technical treatment, but it summarizes the habits and characteristics of various groups. Dieter Blume, Über die Lebensweise einiger Spechtarten (Dendrocopos major, Picus viridis, Dryocopus martius) (1961), is the classic modern behavioral treatment of woodpeckers, covering three common European species (fairly technical). Heinz Sielmann, My Year with the Woodpeckers, trans. from German (1959), is a readable, accurate account of the habits of European woodpeckers. Louise de Kiriline Lawrence, A Comparative Life-History Study of Four Species of Woodpeckers (1967), presents an accurate though not overly technical treatment of the habits of some North American species. James T. Tanner, The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker (1942, reprinted 1966), delineates the habits and history of one of the largest woodpeckers, now nearly extinct on the North American continent. Lester L. Short, Woodpeckers of the World (1982), provides extensive coverage.Lester L. Short Ed.

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