NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
White Woodpecker
Melanerpes candidus (Otto, 1796)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
White woodpecker (Melanerpes candidus) in Aracaju, Sergipe, Brasil.
Dr. Lenaldo Vigo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The white woodpecker (Melanerpes candidus) is a South American species of woodpecker (family Picidae) native to the wooded grasslands of Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. It is a bright white bird with black wings and a distinctive small bright yellow eye patch. The IUCN has rated it as a "least-concern species".
Wikipedia contributors, White woodpecker; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:49:35.007983+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Melanerpes candidus (Otto, 1796)
- Name authority
- (Otto, 1796)
- Common name
- White Woodpecker
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Melanerpes
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPiciformes
- familyPicidae
- subfamilyPicinae
- genusMelanerpes Swainson, 1832
- speciesMelanerpes candidus (Otto, 1796)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Melanerpes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Golden-fronted WoodpeckerMelanerpes aurifrons (Wagler, 1829) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-fronted WoodpeckerMelanerpes cactorum (d'Orbigny, 1840) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Golden-naped WoodpeckerMelanerpes chrysauchen Salvin, 1870 | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Golden-cheeked WoodpeckerMelanerpes chrysogenys (Vigors, 1839) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-tufted WoodpeckerMelanerpes cruentatus (Boddaert, 1783) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-fronted WoodpeckerMelanerpes flavifrons (Vieillot, 1818) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Acorn WoodpeckerMelanerpes formicivorus (Swainson, 1827) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Lewis' WoodpeckerMelanerpes lewis (G. R. Gray, 1849) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Puerto Rican WoodpeckerMelanerpes portoricensis (Daudin, 1803) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-cheeked WoodpeckerMelanerpes pucherani (Malherbe, 1849) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yucatan WoodpeckerMelanerpes pygmaeus (Ridgway, 1885) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Jamaican WoodpeckerMelanerpes radiolatus (Wagler, 1827) | PicidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=553980 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3Z729. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.