Dryobates is a genus of birds in the woodpecker family Picidae. The species are widely distributed and occur in both Eurasia and the Americas.

Taxonomy

The genus Dryobates was named by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie in 1826 with the downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) as the type species.

The genus name Dryobates is from the Greek compound word δρυο-βάτης : 'woodland walker'; from δρῦς : drus (genitive δρυός : dryós) meaning woodland and -βάτης : -bátēs meaning walker. In the eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, the genus Dryobates is expanded to include all the species in Leuconotopicus and Veniliornis.

The genus contains the following species:

Genus Dryobates – F. Boie, 1826 – Six species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Nuttall's woodpecker Male FemaleDryobates nuttallii (Gambel, 1843)northern California extending south towards the northwest region of Baja California, MexicoSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Downy woodpecker Male FemaleDryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) Seven subspecies D. p. glacialis (Grinnell, 1910)D. p. medianus (Swainson, 1832)D. p. fumidus (Maynard, 1889)D. p. gairdnerii (Audubon, 1839)D. p. turati (Malherbe, 1860)D. p. leucurus (Hartlaub, 1852)D. p. pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766)North AmericaSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Ladder-backed woodpecker Male FemaleDryobates scalaris (Wagler, 1829)Southwestern United States (north to extreme southern Nevada and extreme southeastern Colorado), most of Mexico, and locally in Central America as far south as NicaraguaSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Lesser spotted woodpecker Male FemaleDryobates minor (Linnaeus, 1758) Thirteen subspecies D. m. comminutus (Hartert, 1907)D. m. minor (Linnaeus, 1758)D. m. kamtschatkensis (Malherbe, 1860)D. m. immaculatus (Stejneger, 1884)D. m. amurensis (Buturlin, 1908)D. m. hortorum (Brehm, CL, 1831)D. m. buturlini Hartert, 1912D. m. danfordi (Hargitt, 1883)D. m. colchicus (Buturlin, 1908)D. m. quadrifasciatus (Radde, 1884)D. m. hyrcanus (Zarudny & Bilkevitch, 1913)D. m. morgani (Zarudny & Loudon, 1904)D. m. ledouci (Malherbe, 1855) – northwest AfricaEurope and northern AsiaSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Crimson-naped woodpeckerDryobates cathpharius (Blyth, 1843) Two subspecies D. c. ludlowiD. c. pyrrhothoraxBhutan, China, India, Myanmar and NepalSize: Habitat: Diet:LC
Necklaced woodpeckerDryobates pernyii (Verreaux, J,, 1867)Bangladesh, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and VietnamSize: Habitat: Diet:LC