Golden-green Woodpecker

About the Golden-green Woodpecker

The golden-green woodpecker (Piculus chrysochloros) is a species of bird in subfamily Picinae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Panama and every mainland South American country except Chile and Uruguay. The golden-green woodpecker's taxonomy is unsettled. The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy recognize these six subspecies:

P. c. xanthochlorus (Sclater, P.L. & Salvin, 1875) P. c. capistratus (Malherbe, 1862) P. c. laemostictus Todd, 1937 P. c. paraensis (Snethlage, E., 1907) P. c. polyzonus (Valenciennes, 1826) P. c. chrysochloros (Vieillot, 1818)

BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World further subdivides the golden-green woodpecker by adding the three subspecies P. c. aurosus, P. c. guianensis, and P. c. hypochryseus but does not list their originators. However, a 2013 study found that they are not "diagnosable units".

Subspecies P. c. xanthochlorus has at times been treated as a separate species. Some authors treat the golden-green woodpecker and the yellow-browed woodpecker (P. aurulentus) as a superspecies. This article follows the six-subspecies model.

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