Colaptes

The genus Colaptes was introduced by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825 with the northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) as the type species.{{ cite journal | last=Vigors | first=Nicholas Aylward | author-link=Nicholas Aylward Vigors | year=1825 | title=Observations on the natural affinities that connect the orders and families of birds | journal=Transactions of the Linnean Society of London | volume=14 | issue=#3 | pages=395-517 [457 Note] | doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.1823.tb00098.x | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/752835 }} The name is from the Ancient Greek κολάπτης (kolaptēs) meaning "chiseller".{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=113 }}

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.{{ cite journal | last1=Shakya | first1=S.B. | last2=Fuchs | first2=J. | last3=Pons | first3=J.M. | last4=Sheldon | first4=F.H. | year=2017 | title=Tapping the woodpecker tree for evolutionary insight | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=116 | pages=182–191 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2017.09.005 | pmid=28890006 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319596154 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2017MolPE.116..182S }} 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.{{ cite journal | last1=Moore | first1=W.S. | last2=Overton | first2=L.C. | last3=Miglia | first3=K.J. | year=2011 | title=Mitochondrial DNA based phylogeny of the woodpecker genera Colaptes and Piculus, and implications for the history of woodpecker diversification in South America | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=58 | issue=#1 | pages=76–84 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.09.011 | pmid=20863898 | bibcode=2011MolPE..58...76M }}{{ cite journal | last=Dufort | first=Matthew J. | title=An augmented supermatrix phylogeny of the avian family Picidae reveals uncertainty deep in the family tree | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | year=2016 | volume=94 | issue=Pt A | pages=313–326 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.08.025 | pmid=26416706 | bibcode=2016MolPE..94..313D }}

The genus Colaptes contains 15 species. Of these, one species, the Bermuda flicker, is now extinct:{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=February 2025 | title=Woodpeckers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/woodpeckers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=23 May 2025 }}

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

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Colaptes|Colaptes}}

{{Cavitaves|Pi.|state=collapsed}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q868238}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Bird genera

Category:Taxa named by Nicholas Aylward Vigors