Talk:List of woodpeckers

April 27, 2019 revision
A suggestion by this article's creator that I add numbers to each entry to allow sorting by taxonomic sequence led to my discovering some problems with the article. (1) None of its three references contain a comprehensive list of species, so the actual source of the list isn't cited. (2) The text cites one reference as saying there are about 300 woodpecker species, but the article lists only 241 (plus 16 subspecies). (3) As usual, the three major avian taxonomic systems each list a different number of woodpecker species (HBW Nov. 2018 n=255, IOC Jan. 2019 n=236, Clements Aug. 2018 n=231). However, none of them list 241 and none list "about 300".

Therefore the many changes made in this revision are listed here rather than in a long edit summary.


 * The IOC list is used for conformance with Wikipedia's use of that taxonomy for bird species' articles.


 * The former text is completely replaced with text which describes the source and philosophy of the presentation. New references replace the originals.


 * The list is presented as a sortable table for consistency with many other avian "List of ____ species" articles.


 * A column is added to allow sorting by taxonomic sequence as well as common and scientific names.


 * The list is presented in taxonomic sequence. The former list was alphabetical by common name.


 * The following changes in species are made to conform to the IOC list: Nine species are deleted, four are added, two common names are revised, and three specific epithets are revised. The nine deletions are splits accepted by HBW but not IOC. The four additions are on all three lists noted above, so their former absence was probably an oversight. Two of the specific epithet changes are to correct typos.

Craigthebirder (talk) 14:47, 27 April 2019 (UTC)

July 16, 2020 revisions
Craigthebirder (talk) 21:57, 16 July 2020 (UTC)
 * Update the reference and counts in the introduction.
 * Add one species.
 * Delete one species
 * Revise three binomials.
 * Revise the sequence of species.