What is "dendrocopos"

Dendrocopos is a widespread genus of woodpeckers from Asia and Europe and Northern Africa. The species range from the Philippines to the British Isles.

The genus was introduced by the German naturalist Carl Ludwig Koch in 1816. The name Dendrocopus is a combination of the Greek words ''dendron '', meaning "tree" and kopos, "striking ". The type species was specified as the great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) by the Scottish ornithologist Edward Hargitt in 1890 in his catalogue of woodpeckers in the collection of the British Museum.

The genus Dendrocopos at one time contained around 25 species. A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the pied woodpeckers published in 2015 found that Dendrocopos was polyphyletic. In the rearranged genera the number of species in Dendrocopos was reduced to 12 (or 13) as listed below.