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160-713: The name is derived from "Spechtshardt". Specht is the German word for woodpecker and Hardt is an outdated word meaning "hilly forest". The Spessart is a Mittelgebirge , part of the German Central Uplands , located in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria and in Hesse , Germany . It is bordered by other ranges of hills: the Vogelsberg in the north, Rhön in the northeast and Odenwald in

320-581: A frame story involving a romantic tale of the Spessarträuber . Director Kurt Hoffmann turned Hauff's novella into a very successful film in 1957. It starred Liselotte Pulver and was shot on location at Mespelbrunn Castle and Miltenberg. The film The Spessart Inn spawned two sequels The Haunted Castle (1960) and Glorious Times at the Spessart Inn (1967). The Spessart features one officially recognised spa town , Bad Orb, as well as

480-413: A gnome (mine spirit) by others. Cobalt is a ferromagnetic metal with a specific gravity of 8.9. The Curie temperature is 1,115 °C (2,039 °F) and the magnetic moment is 1.6–1.7 Bohr magnetons per atom . Cobalt has a relative permeability two-thirds that of iron . Metallic cobalt occurs as two crystallographic structures : hcp and fcc . The ideal transition temperature between

640-581: A termite colony or fruit-laden tree, driving away other conspecifics and returning frequently until the resource is exhausted. Aggressive behaviors include bill pointing and jabbing, head shaking, wing flicking, chasing, drumming, and vocalizations. Ritual actions do not usually result in contact, and birds may "freeze" for a while before they resume their dispute. The colored patches may be flouted, and in some instances, these antagonistic behaviors resemble courtship rituals. Group-living species tend to be communal group breeders. In addition to these species,

800-589: A bucket used in mining, frequently mentioned by Agricola, namely the kobel/köbel (Latinized as modulus ). Another theory given by the Etymologisches Wörterbuch derives the term from kōbathium or rather cobathia ( κωβάθια , "arsenic sulfide" ) which occurs as noxious fumes. An etymology from Slavonic kowalti was suggested by Emanuel Merck (1902). W. W. Skeat and J. Berendes construed κόβαλος as "parasite", i.e. as an ore parasitic to nickel , but this explanation

960-465: A consequence, these activities are concentrated in the loess-covered areas in the west and around Marktheidenfeld. However, wine growing and fruit orchards have proved more successful in the west and northwest (Kahlgrund, Obernburg, Klingenberg, Großheubach) and on the southern edge of the Mainspessart . The vineyards around Kahl are Bavaria's most northerly wine growing region. The Muschelkalk makes

1120-486: A crest or tufted feathers on their crowns. Woodpeckers tend to be sexually dimorphic , but differences between the sexes are generally small; exceptions to this are Williamson's sapsucker and the orange-backed woodpecker , which differ markedly. The plumage is moulted fully once a year apart from the wrynecks , which have an additional partial moult before breeding. Woodpeckers, piculets, and wrynecks all possess characteristic zygodactyl feet , consisting of four toes,

1280-452: A distinctive blue tint to glass. The color was long thought to be due to the metal bismuth . Miners had long used the name kobold ore ( German for goblin ore ) for some of the blue pigment-producing minerals . They were so named because they were poor in known metals and gave off poisonous arsenic -containing fumes when smelted. In 1735, such ores were found to be reducible to a new metal (the first discovered since ancient times), which

1440-477: A fast, direct form of flight, but the majority of species have a typical undulating flight pattern consisting of a series of rapid flaps followed by a swooping glide. Many birds in the genus Melanerpes have distinctive, rowing wing-strokes while the piculets engage in short bursts of rapid direct flight. Woodpeckers have a mostly cosmopolitan distribution , although they are absent from Australasia , Madagascar, and Antarctica . They are also absent from some of

1600-514: A given amount of time), located inter alia in Hösbach, Goldbach, Krausenbach, Obernau, Kleinostheim, Sailauf, Waldaschaff, Wintersbach and Heimbuchenthal. The commoners employed by the absentee feudal lords lived in villages that took the typical form of stretching along a single main street which followed the valleys of little streams ( Streifendörfer , today still visible at Hessenthal, Mespelbrunn, Heimbuchenthal or Wintersbach). Settlers were granted

1760-480: A hard surface with great rapidity. After a pause, the drum roll is repeated, with each species having a pattern that is unique in the number of beats in the roll, the length of the roll, the length of the gap between rolls, and the cadence. The drumming is mainly a territorial call, equivalent to the song of a passerine . Woodpeckers choose a surface that resonates, such as a hollow tree, and may use man-made structures such as gutters and downpipes. Drumming serves for

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1920-408: A hole in a tree. The tongue was reported to be used to spear grubs, but more detailed studies published in 2004 have shown that the tongue instead wraps around the prey before being pulled out. Many of the foraging, breeding, and signaling behaviors of woodpeckers involve drumming and hammering using their bills. To prevent brain damage from the rapid and repeated powerful impacts, woodpeckers have

2080-407: A lack of habitat to which to disperse. A pair works together to help build the nest, incubate the eggs, and raise their altricial young. In most species, though, the male does most of the nest excavation and takes the night shift while incubating the eggs. A clutch usually consists of two to five round, white eggs. Since these birds are cavity nesters, their eggs do not need to be camouflaged and

2240-408: A late 18th century writer. Later, Grimms' dictionary (1868) noted the kobalt/kobelt ore was blamed on the mountain spirit ( Bergmännchen  [ de ] ) which was also held responsible for "stealing the silver and putting out an ore that caused poor mining atmosphere ( Wetter ) and other health hazards". Grimms' dictionary entries equated the word "kobel" with "kobold", and listed it as

2400-720: A long, descending trill, or a descending series of two to six (sometimes more) individual notes, and this song alerts ornithologists to the presence of the birds, as they are easily overlooked. Most woodpecker species feed on insects and other invertebrates living under bark and in wood, but overall, the family is characterized by its dietary flexibility, with many species being both highly omnivorous and opportunistic. The diet includes ants, termites, beetles and their larvae, caterpillars, spiders, other arthropods, bird eggs, nestlings, small rodents, lizards, fruit, nuts, and sap. Many insects and their grubs are taken from living and dead trees by excavation. The bird may hear sounds from inside

2560-519: A mere variant diminutive , but the latter is defined in it as a household spirit . Whereas some of the more recent commentators prefer to characterize the ore's namesake kobelt (recté kobel ) as a gnome . The early 20th century Oxford English Dictionary (1st edition, 1908) had upheld Grimm's etymology. However, by around the same time in Germany, the alternate etymology not endorsed by Grimm ( kob/kof "house, chamber" + walt "power, ruler")

2720-528: A month to finish the job and abandoned holes are used by other birds and mammals that are cavity nesters unable to excavate their own holes. Cavities are in great demand for nesting by other cavity nesters, so woodpeckers face competition for the nesting sites they excavate from the moment the hole becomes usable. This may come from other species of woodpecker, or other cavity-nesting birds such as swallows and starlings. Woodpeckers may aggressively harass potential competitors, and also use other strategies to reduce

2880-812: A number of climatic spas ( Luftkurorte ), like Heigenbrücken, where visitors benefit from the high air quality. Hiking has long been a major tourist attraction in the Spessart. Two notable long-distance trails follow the historic routes of the Birkenhainer Strasse and the Eselsweg , but there are several others like the Schneewittchen-Wanderweg ("Snow White Trail") from Lohr to Bieber or the Fränkischer Rotwein-Wanderweg ("Franconian Red Wine Trail"). There

3040-470: A number of physical features that protect their brains. These include a relatively small and smooth brain, narrow subdural space , little cerebrospinal fluid surrounding it to prevent it from moving back and forth inside the skull during pecking, the orientation of the brain within the skull (which maximises the contact area between the brain and the skull) and the short duration of contact. The skull consists of strong but compressible, sponge-like bone, which

3200-465: A number of species may join mixed-species foraging flocks with other insectivorous birds, although they tend to stay at the edges of these groups. Joining these flocks allows woodpeckers to decrease their anti-predator vigilance and increase their feeding rate. Woodpeckers are diurnal, roosting at night inside holes and crevices. In many species the roost will become the nest-site during the breeding season, but in some species they have separate functions;

3360-451: A plot of land of around 100 metres width stretching from the road or stream in the middle of the valley up to the top of the ridges on either side of the valley. However, since the territory ruled by Mainz used an inheritance law that required the property to be split between all the sons of the deceased, the size of the holdings soon began to dwindle and often became too small to support families. The Counts of Rieneck, originally vogts in

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3520-479: A portion of their time feeding on the ground, and a very small minority have abandoned trees entirely and nest in holes in the ground. The ground woodpecker is one such species, inhabiting the rocky and grassy hills of South Africa , and the Andean flicker is another. The Swiss Ornithological Institute has set up a monitoring program to record breeding populations of woodland birds. This has shown that deadwood

3680-429: A reverberatory sound that can be heard at some distance. Some species vary their diet with fruits, birds' eggs, small animals, tree sap, human scraps, and carrion . They usually nest and roost in holes that they excavate in tree trunks, and their abandoned holes are of importance to other cavity-nesting birds. They sometimes come into conflict with humans when they make holes in buildings or feed on fruit crops, but perform

3840-412: A round entrance hole that just fits the bird, leading to an enlarged vertical chamber below. No nesting material is used, apart from some wood chips produced during the excavation; other wood chips are liberally scattered on the ground, thus providing visual evidence of the site of the nest. Many species of woodpeckers excavate one hole per breeding season, sometimes after multiple attempts. It takes around

4000-621: A small number of trees exist, or in the case of desert species like the Gila woodpecker, tall cacti are available for nesting. Some are specialists and are associated with coniferous or deciduous woodlands, or even, like the acorn woodpecker , with individual tree genera ( oaks in this case). Other species are generalists and are able to adapt to forest clearance by exploiting secondary growth , plantations, orchards , and parks. In general, forest-dwelling species need rotting or dead wood on which to forage. Several species are adapted to spending

4160-439: A thickened nictitating membrane closes, protecting the eye from flying debris. These membranes also prevent the retina from tearing. Their nostrils are also protected; they are often slit-like and have special feathers to cover them. Woodpeckers are capable of repeated pecking on a tree at high decelerations on the order of 10,000  m/s (33,000  ft/s ) (1000 g ). Some large woodpeckers such as Dryocopus have

4320-684: A third national park in the state, after Bavarian Forest National Park and Berchtesgaden National Park . The potential candidates were the Bavarian Rhön, the Donau-Auen and the Spessart. According to the Bavarian minister for the environment, Ulrike Scharf, in the Spessart around 10,900 hectares of forest (or around 10% of the Bavarian Spessart's wooded area) would be turned into a national park, which would put strict limits on

4480-449: A transition metal-alkyl complex that is notable for its resistance to β-hydrogen elimination , in accord with Bredt's rule . The cobalt(III) and cobalt(V) complexes [Li(THF) 4 ] [Co(1-norb) 4 ] and [Co(1-norb) 4 ] [BF 4 ] are also known. Co is the only stable cobalt isotope and the only isotope that exists naturally on Earth. Twenty-two radioisotopes have been characterized:

4640-621: A useful service by their removal of insect pests on trees. The Picidae are one of nine living families in the order Piciformes , the others being barbets (comprising three families), toucans , toucan-barbets , and honeyguides , which (along with woodpeckers) comprise the clade Pici , and the jacamars and puffbirds in the clade Galbuli . DNA sequencing has confirmed the sister relationships of these two groups. The family Picidae includes about 240 species arranged in 35 genera . Almost 20 species are threatened with extinction due to loss of habitat or habitat fragmentation , with one,

4800-559: A wide variety of coordination complexes with ammonia and amines, which are called ammine complexes . Examples include [Co(NH 3 ) 6 ] , [Co(NH 3 ) 5 Cl] ( chloropentamminecobalt(III) ), and cis - and trans - [Co(NH 3 ) 4 Cl 2 ] . The corresponding ethylenediamine complexes are also well known. Analogues are known where the halides are replaced by nitrite , hydroxide , carbonate , etc. Alfred Werner worked extensively on these complexes in his Nobel-prize winning work. The robustness of these complexes

4960-528: Is +2 (cobalt(II)). These salts form the pink-colored metal aquo complex [Co(H 2 O) 6 ] in water. Addition of chloride gives the intensely blue [CoCl 4 ] . In a borax bead flame test , cobalt shows deep blue in both oxidizing and reducing flames. Several oxides of cobalt are known. Green cobalt(II) oxide (CoO) has rocksalt structure. It is readily oxidized with water and oxygen to brown cobalt(III) hydroxide (Co(OH) 3 ). At temperatures of 600–700 °C, CoO oxidizes to

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5120-501: Is a chemical element ; it has symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel , cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron . The free element , produced by reductive smelting , is a hard, lustrous, somewhat brittle, gray metal . Cobalt-based blue pigments ( cobalt blue ) have been used since antiquity for jewelry and paints, and to impart

5280-424: Is a commercially important radioisotope, used as a radioactive tracer and for the production of high-energy gamma rays . Cobalt is also used in the petroleum industry as a catalyst when refining crude oil. This is to purge it of sulfur, which is very polluting when burned and causes acid rain. Cobalt is the active center of a group of coenzymes called cobalamins . Vitamin B 12 , the best-known example of

5440-440: Is a successful strategy and a higher proportion of young is reared than is the case with birds that nest in the open. In Africa, several species of honeyguide are brood parasites of woodpeckers. The Picidae are just one of nine living families in the order Piciformes . Other members of this group, such as the jacamars , puffbirds , barbets , toucans , and honeyguides , have traditionally been thought to be closely related to

5600-497: Is a woodpecker. The following cladogram is based on the comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the woodpeckers published in 2017 together with the list of bird species maintained by Frank Gill , Pamela Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC). The Cuban green woodpecker in the monotypic genus Xiphidiopicus was not included in

5760-524: Is an extensive network of signposted hiking trails in the Spessart. In a recent update of the signposts, 4,300 kilometres of trails were upgraded in the Bavarian Spessart alone. The Spessartbund , in charge of most of the major trails, was founded back in 1913, although its roots go back to the 19th century. Local municipalities have also created shorter trails. More recently, Nordic walking and bike trails have been added. In July 2016, Bavarian minister president Horst Seehofer announced his intention to create

5920-451: Is an important habitat requirement for the black woodpecker , great spotted woodpecker , middle spotted woodpecker , lesser spotted woodpecker , European green woodpecker , and Eurasian three-toed woodpecker . Populations of all these species increased by varying amounts from 1990 to 2008. During this period, the amount of deadwood in the forest increased and the range of the white-backed woodpecker enlarged as it extended eastwards. With

6080-430: Is demonstrated by the optical resolution of tris(ethylenediamine)cobalt(III) ( [Co(en) 3 ] ). Cobalt(II) forms a wide variety of complexes, but mainly with weakly basic ligands. The pink-colored cation hexaaquocobalt(II) [Co(H 2 O) 6 ] is found in several routine cobalt salts such as the nitrate and sulfate. Upon addition of excess chloride, solutions of the hexaaquo complex converts to

6240-561: Is faulted for its anachronism since nickel was not discovered until 1751. Cobalt compounds have been used for centuries to impart a rich blue color to glass , glazes , and ceramics . Cobalt has been detected in Egyptian sculpture, Persian jewelry from the third millennium BC, in the ruins of Pompeii , destroyed in 79 AD, and in China, dating from the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) and

6400-410: Is heavily conserved across species' respective ranges, indicating that there likely are not 'dialects' as seen in passerine song. Drumming in woodpeckers is controlled by a set of nuclei in the forebrain that closely resemble the brain regions that underlie song learning and production in many songbirds. A 2023 study revealed a strong association between extractive foraging and relative brain size across

6560-787: Is in the Haslochtal. The French invasion during the War of the First Coalition again brought war to the Spessart in 1796. In 1803, the ecclesial princedoms were abolished in the Secularization . The northern part of the Spessart, part of the Grafschaft Hanau , became part of Kurhessen , with the exception of Alzenau. After the Congress of Vienna of 1814/15, the former territories of Mainz and Würzburg became part of

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6720-402: Is most concentrated in the forehead and the back of the skull. Another anatomical adaptation of woodpeckers is the enormously elongated hyoid bone which subdivides, passes on either side of the spinal column and wraps around the brain case, before ending in the right nostril cavity. It plays the role of safety-belt. Computer simulations have shown that 99.7% of the energy generated in pecking

6880-460: Is much more sensitive to oxidation than ferrocene. Cobalt carbonyl ( Co 2 (CO) 8 ) is a catalyst in carbonylation and hydrosilylation reactions. Vitamin B 12 (see below ) is an organometallic compound found in nature and is the only vitamin that contains a metal atom. An example of an alkylcobalt complex in the otherwise uncommon +4 oxidation state of cobalt is the homoleptic complex tetrakis(1-norbornyl)cobalt(IV) (Co(1-norb) 4 ),

7040-541: Is not found on Earth's surface because of its tendency to react with oxygen in the atmosphere. Small amounts of cobalt compounds are found in most rocks, soils, plants, and animals. In the ocean cobalt typically reacts with chlorine. In nature, cobalt is frequently associated with nickel . Both are characteristic components of meteoric iron , though cobalt is much less abundant in iron meteorites than nickel. As with nickel, cobalt in meteoric iron alloys may have been well enough protected from oxygen and moisture to remain as

7200-627: Is not well documented, but the known fossils allow some preliminary conclusions; the earliest known modern picids were piculet-like forms of the Late Oligocene , about 25 million years ago (Mya). By that time, however, the group was already present in the Americas and Europe, and they actually may have evolved much earlier, maybe as early as the Early Eocene (50 Mya). The modern subfamilies appear to be rather young by comparison; until

7360-459: Is obtained by reducing the cobalt by-products of nickel and copper mining and smelting . Since cobalt is generally produced as a by-product, the supply of cobalt depends to a great extent on the economic feasibility of copper and nickel mining in a given market. Demand for cobalt was projected to grow 6% in 2017. Primary cobalt deposits are rare, such as those occurring in hydrothermal deposits , associated with ultramafic rocks , typified by

7520-419: Is one of the few simple stable cobalt(III) compounds. Cobalt(III) fluoride, which is used in some fluorination reactions, reacts vigorously with water. The inventory of complexes is very large. Starting with higher oxidation states, complexes of Co(IV) and Co(V) are rare. Examples are found in caesium hexafluorocobaltate(IV) (Cs 2 CoF 6 ) and potassium percobaltate (K 3 CoO 4 ). Cobalt(III) forms

7680-542: Is prevalent especially around Miltenberg . This is the best-known stone of the area, as it has been used in the past for many public buildings including the cathedrals of the Rhine valley, like Mainz Cathedral . On the western edge of the range there is also loess , a wind-deposited sediment. The area of the Würzburger Spessart is made up of Muschelkalk , which provides better conditions for agriculture than

7840-586: Is reduced to metal by the aluminothermic reaction or reduction with carbon in a blast furnace . The United States Geological Survey estimates world reserves of cobalt at 7,100,000 metric tons. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) currently produces 63% of the world's cobalt. This market share may reach 73% by 2025 if planned expansions by mining producers like Glencore Plc take place as expected. Bloomberg New Energy Finance has estimated that by 2030, global demand for cobalt could be 47 times more than it

8000-401: Is stored in the form of strain energy , which is distributed throughout the bird's body, with only a small remaining fraction of the energy going into the brain. The pecking also causes the woodpecker's skull to heat up, which is part of the reason why they often peck in short bursts with brief breaks in between, giving the head some time to cool. During the millisecond before contact with wood,

8160-475: Is the Aaleborgfraale (regional dialect for "Altenburg lady"), who is especially feared and revered by locals. The most popular story is about her guarding a buried treasure chest in legendary "Altenburg" castle, that can only be retrieved by being absolutely silent during the process. If one fails to do so, by opening the wooden crate, he or she will not find treasures, but will face the harrowing image of

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8320-618: Is the Zechstein , dating to the Permian , found in a band stretching from Sailauf to Eidengesäß and as an "island" in the area of the stream Bieber near Biebergemünd , where it contained deposits of silver , copper , iron and cobalt . The top layer of most of the Hochspessart and southern Spessart is made up of a slab of Buntsandstein or red sandstone , of up to 400 metres thickness. It dates back about 250 million years and

8480-676: Is the Hahnenkamm (460 metres). The Nordspessart is the stretch of hills to the south of the valley of the Kinzig, flowing from Schlüchtern to its mouth in the Main at Hanau . It also includes the valleys of small streams feeding the Kinzig from the south like the Bieber or Orb. There is some overlap with the northwestern part of the Vorspessart . The name Hochspessart is generally used for

8640-407: Is to divide it into Mainspessart , Vorspessart , Hochspessart and Nordspessart (or Kinzigtal ). The western edge of the range between Aschaffenburg and Miltenberg is generally referred to as Vorspessart . However, some use that name also for the more northerly area between Aschaffenburg, Alzenau and Gelnhausen. It extends east to around Schöllkrippen and Mespelbrunn. The highest elevation here

8800-487: The Bundesautobahn 3 (or A3) was built, linking Würzburg and Aschaffenburg. The Spessart is widely known for its legends, ghost stories and fairytales. The most important historical account of the legendary Johann Georg Faust , namesake of the proverbial Faustian Bargain , was when he came to the small Spessart town of Gelnhausen in 1506. The Grimm brothers spent their youth in the 1790s at nearby Steinau on

8960-599: The Kollegiatsstift Aschaffenburg , which had been gifted much of the previous royal hunting preserve in 974 by Emperor Otto II . In 982, Otto I, Duke of Swabia and Bavaria died and left his regional territories to Mainz, which eventually turned Aschaffenburg into a second princely residence. Settlement efforts also originated from the Kinzig valley, in particular from the Kaiserpfalz at Gelnhausen (built under Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa in

9120-540: The Aaleborgfraale stepping out of the crate. As with Mother Hulda, the character is said to go back to pre-Christian times in the Bronze Age. Many of the lesser-known Spessart tales that were passed down till today have been collected by local teacher and ethnologist Valentin Pfeiffer (1886–1964). His book Spessart-Sagen ("Spessart legends") has been reprinted 17 times. The Spessart is the point for departure for

9280-682: The African piculet and two species in the genus Sasia that are found in Southeast Asia. The wrynecks (Jynginae) are found exclusively in the Old World, with the two species occurring in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Most woodpeckers are sedentary, but a few examples of migratory species are known, such as the rufous-bellied woodpecker , yellow-bellied sapsucker , and Eurasian wryneck , which breeds in Europe and west Asia and migrates to

9440-591: The Bark beetle or of wild boars and wolves. In addition, many local property owners currently enjoy rights, sometimes dating back to the Middle Ages, to harvest wood in state-owned forests. This sideline in forestry business has long been a source of fuel, timber and income for many. CSU Member of the Landtag Peter Winter  [ de ] founded the association Wir im Spessart to oppose

9600-603: The Bermuda flicker , being extinct and a further two possibly being so. Woodpeckers include the tiny piculets , the smallest of which appears to be the bar-breasted piculet at 7.5 cm (3.0 in) in length and a weight of 8.9 g (0.31 oz). Some of the largest woodpeckers can be more than 50 cm (20 in) in length. The largest surviving species is the great slaty woodpecker , which weighs 430 g (15 oz) on average and up to 563 g (19.9 oz), and measures 45 to 55 cm (18 to 22 in), but

9760-515: The Congo in 1914, mining operations shifted again. When the Shaba conflict started in 1978, the copper mines of Katanga Province nearly stopped production. The impact on the world cobalt economy from this conflict was smaller than expected: cobalt is a rare metal, the pigment is highly toxic, and the industry had already established effective ways for recycling cobalt materials. In some cases, industry

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9920-583: The Franks moving into the region from the Rhine . Graves dating to the 6th to 8th century were found near Obernburg, Mömlingen , Obernau and Aschaffenburg. Under the Franks, the Spessart was used for hunting by freemen . During the reign of Charlemagne , the forests of the Spessart were a royal hunting preserve and thus off-limits to others. The uplands were only settled after abbeys/monasteries were established in

10080-826: The Hallstatt culture . Hill forts attributed inter alia to Celts of the La Tène culture have been found on the Schanzenkopf near Wasserlos, on the Schloßberg near Soden/ Sulzbach , on the Schanzkopf near Klingenberg and close to Miltenberg (Greinberg and Bürgstadter Berg, although the latter dates to the Urnfield period and/or even earlier Michelsberger culture). These fortified refuges or defended hill-top settlements were mostly built between 500 and 100 BC. Since

10240-404: The Hochspessart , rising from the west to a maximum of 1,000 mm/year and then falling back on the lee side of the range (prevailing winds come from the west) to around 600 mm/year in the Main valley. Depending on the elevation, about 15% to 20% of the annual precipitation falls as snow. In the Hochspessart there are around 70 to 80 days of snow, in the Vorspessart and in the valleys of

10400-536: The Kingdom of Bavaria . In 1866, the Kurfürstentum Hessen and with it the northern Spessart became Prussian . In 1854 the railway between Würzburg and Aschaffenburg was opened, replacing the post route in use since 1615 as the main thoroughfare through the hills. In World War II , Aschaffenburg was severely hit by Allied air raids and further damaged by a siege. In the 1950s the Spessart section of

10560-567: The Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD). Cobalt has been used to color glass since the Bronze Age . The excavation of the Uluburun shipwreck yielded an ingot of blue glass, cast during the 14th century BC. Blue glass from Egypt was either colored with copper, iron, or cobalt. The oldest cobalt-colored glass is from the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1550–1292 BC). The source for the cobalt

10720-622: The Sahel in Africa in the winter. More northerly populations of Lewis's woodpecker , northern flicker , Williamson's sapsucker, red-breasted sapsucker , and red-naped sapsucker all move southwards in the fall in North America. Most woodpecker movements can be described as dispersive, such as when young birds seek territories after fledging, or eruptive, to escape harsh weather conditions. Several species are altitudinal migrants, for example

10880-480: The Vorspessart evergreens predominate, and meadows with scattered fruit trees ( Streuobstwiesen ) and whitethorn are common. In the Hochspessart , around 85% of which is covered by forests, oaks and beeches are most numerous. The oldest trees are found in the nature preserves of Rohrberg (near Rohrbrunn) and Metzgergraben. Like the Vorspessart , the Nordspessart also sports more evergreens, because

11040-655: The Vorspessart was kept uninhabited by the Romans as a "no man's land" and buffer zone between their border and the local tribes. As the Roman empire collapsed, the Burgundians came to the Main valley from the northeast in the late 3rd century. In the 5th century they were in turn ousted by the Allemanni , coming from the south. Aschaffenburg, Lohr and Gemünden were likely founded by them. The Alemanni were then absorbed by

11200-518: The West Indian woodpecker . Another unusual social system is that of the acorn woodpecker, which is a polygynandrous cooperative breeder where groups of up to 12 individuals breed and help to raise the young. Young birds from previous years may stay behind to help raise the group's young, and studies have found reproductive success for the group goes up with group size, but individual success goes down. Birds may be forced to remain in groups due to

11360-596: The Würzburger Spessart somewhat better suited for agriculture. Wheat as well as wine thrive there and in the area around Homburg (now part of Triefenstein) grow some of the best-known appellations of the Mainfranken region. Woodpecker Tapping sound of a woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae , which also includes the piculets , wrynecks and sapsuckers . Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia , New Guinea , New Zealand , Madagascar and

11520-577: The black-backed woodpecker and the American and Eurasian three-toed woodpeckers , which have only three toes on each foot. The tails of all woodpeckers, except the piculets and wrynecks, are stiffened, and when the bird perches on a vertical surface, the tail and feet work together to support it. Woodpeckers have strong bills that they use for drilling and drumming on trees, and long, sticky tongues for extracting food (insects and larvae). Woodpecker bills are typically longer, sharper, and stronger than

11680-517: The ectropodactyl toe arrangement evolved. These latter characters may have facilitated enormous increases in body size in some lineages. Prehistoric representatives of the extant Picidae genera are treated in the genus articles. An enigmatic form based on a coracoid , found in Pliocene deposits of New Providence in the Bahamas , has been described as Bathoceleus hyphalus and probably also

11840-461: The grey-and-buff woodpecker makes several shallow holes for roosting which are quite distinct from its nesting site. Most birds roost alone and will oust intruders from their chosen site, but the Magellanic woodpecker and acorn woodpecker are cooperative roosters. Drumming is a form of nonvocal communication used by most species of woodpeckers, and involves the bill being repeatedly struck on

12000-501: The grey-capped pygmy woodpecker , which moves to lowlands from hills during winter. The woodpeckers that do migrate, do so during the day. Overall, woodpeckers are arboreal birds of wooded habitats . They reach their greatest diversity in tropical rainforests , but occur in almost all suitable habitats, including woodlands, savannahs , scrublands , and bamboo forests. Even grasslands and deserts have been colonised by various species. These habitats are more easily occupied where

12160-592: The monophyly of the Picidae, which seem to have originated in the Old World, but the geographic origins of the Picinae is unclear. The Picumninae are returned as paraphyletic . Morphological and behavioural characters, in addition to DNA evidence, highlights genus Hemicircus as the sister group of all remaining true woodpeckers, besides a sister-group relationship between the true woodpecker tribes Dendropicini and Malarpicini. The evolutionary history of this group

12320-676: The monoxide CoO. The metal reacts with fluorine (F 2 ) at 520 K to give CoF 3 ; with chlorine (Cl 2 ), bromine (Br 2 ) and iodine (I 2 ), producing equivalent binary halides . It does not react with hydrogen gas ( H 2 ) or nitrogen gas ( N 2 ) even when heated, but it does react with boron , carbon , phosphorus , arsenic and sulfur. At ordinary temperatures, it reacts slowly with mineral acids , and very slowly with moist, but not dry, air. Common oxidation states of cobalt include +2 and +3, although compounds with oxidation states ranging from −3 to +5 are also known. A common oxidation state for simple compounds

12480-412: The 1.0 to 2.5 kHz range for efficient transmission through forested environments. Mated couples may exchange muted, low-pitched calls, and nestlings often issue noisy begging calls from inside their nest cavity. The wrynecks have a more musical song, and in some areas, the song of the newly arrived Eurasian wryneck is considered to be the harbinger of spring. The piculets either have a song consisting of

12640-663: The 12th century). Abbeys also continued to expand into the forest. Apart from Kloster Neustadt , there was an Augustinian priory at Triefenstein ( Kloster Triefenstein  [ de ] ), founded in 1102. Much of the medieval activity inside the Spessart centred on hunting by nobles, however, including notably the Prince-Electors/Archbishops of Mainz. Between the 12th and the 15th century several hunting lodges (Schöllkrippen, Wiesen, Rothenbuch , Bartelstein, Rohrbrunn) and moated castles (Burgsinn, Sommerau, Mespelbrunn ) were constructed. To attract staff,

12800-587: The 18th and 19th century, however, having become uneconomical. Low soil quality and decreasing plot size made life hard for farmers in the higher elevations of the Spessart. Conditions became worse with the destruction and diseases brought by wars like the Bauernkrieg in 1525, the Schmalkaldsche Krieg of 1546/47 and then the Thirty Years' War in 1618-48. In the wake of the chaos of

12960-552: The Bou-Azzer district of Morocco . At such locations, cobalt ores are mined exclusively, albeit at a lower concentration, and thus require more downstream processing for cobalt extraction. Several methods exist to separate cobalt from copper and nickel, depending on the concentration of cobalt and the exact composition of the used ore. One method is froth flotation , in which surfactants bind to ore components, leading to an enrichment of cobalt ores. Subsequent roasting converts

13120-485: The DRC alone accounted for more than 50%. Cobalt is primarily used in lithium-ion batteries , and in the manufacture of magnetic , wear-resistant and high-strength alloys . The compounds cobalt silicate and cobalt(II) aluminate (CoAl 2 O 4 , cobalt blue) give a distinctive deep blue color to glass , ceramics , inks , paints and varnishes . Cobalt occurs naturally as only one stable isotope , cobalt-59. Cobalt-60

13280-623: The Dürrenberg near Heimbuchenthal . The discovery of numerous prehistoric tools and weapons indicates that the Spessart was frequented by hunters, gatherers and fishers. These findings have been concentrated in the valley of the Kinzig, around Aschaffenburg, as well as in the valleys of the Bieber , the Lohr and the Sinn rivers. Near Goldbach , early Iron Age artifacts have been found, attributed to

13440-477: The Egyptians used is not known. The word cobalt is derived from the 16th century German " kobelt ", a type of ore, as aforementioned. The first attempts to smelt those ores for copper or silver failed, yielding simply powder (cobalt(II) oxide) instead. Because the primary ores of cobalt always contain arsenic, smelting the ore oxidized the arsenic into the highly toxic and volatile arsenic oxide , adding to

13600-466: The Family Picidae, indicating that a larger brain does not necessarily result in more powerful drumming abilities, but is implicated in foraging behaviors, as the act of sensing and retrieving wood-boring larvae from woody substrates likely requires an increase in sensory and motor control capabilities. Woodpeckers do not have such a wide range of songs and calls as do passerine birds, and

13760-703: The Hessian part of the Spessart is Hermannskoppe at 567 metres. Since the admission of Croatia to the European Union (EU), the geographical centre of the EU is located in the village of Westerngrund, near Schöllkrippen , according to the Institut de Géographie in Paris. Previously, the centre was located west of Gelnhausen . There are a number of ways of dividing the Spessart into sub-regions. A popular approach

13920-597: The Main river from Aschaffenburg to Wertheim via Miltenberg. The Bundesautobahn 3 (or A3), a major west-east route, crosses the Spessart between Aschaffenburg and a point to the northeast of Wertheim. The other major roads are the Bundesstrassen 26 (Aschaffenburg-Lohr) and 276 (Wächtersbach-Lohr). In the Spessart, the B8 today follows the route of the A3. Sandstone provides poor conditions for cattle raising or farming. As

14080-466: The Sinn and Hafenlohr around 40 to 50 days and around 30 days in the Main valley. A snow cover of 10 centimetres or more is relatively rare, prevailing on average on fewer than 10 days per year in the Main valley, 15 to 20 days in the Vorspessart and 30 to 35 days in the Hochspessart . A German nature park ( Naturpark ) is a protected area, a sort of nature preserve . The Spessart Nature Park covers

14240-462: The Spessart are known as Sandstein-Spessart and Vorspessart . Parts of the Spessart lie within the Main-Kinzig district (Hesse) and the Bavarian districts Main-Spessart , Aschaffenburg (city), Landkreis Aschaffenburg and Miltenberg . According to a strictly geological definition, a small region south of the Main near Wertheim and another south of Gemünden can be considered part of

14400-474: The Spessart proper was not part of the Roman territory, the Romans left traces only in the northwest of the region. The Limes met the Main river near Großkrotzenburg and the border then followed the river south all the way to Miltenberg. Large castra were located at Seligenstadt , Stockstadt am Main , Niedernberg , Obernburg , Wörth , Trennfurt (near Klingenberg) and near Miltenberg. The northern part of

14560-653: The Spessart west to east from Aschaffenburg to Lohr . This route is also known as the Main-Spessart-Bahn . There has been recent modernization on this route, with the old Spessart ramp and the Schwarzkopf Tunnel being replaced with a series of new tunnels between Laufach and Heigenbrücken . The ICE route from Fulda to Würzburg runs down the Sinn valley and joins the Frankfurt track south of Gemünden. A lesser train route ( Maintalbahn ) follows

14720-409: The Spessart. That definition would mean that part of the Spessart lies in the state of Baden-Württemberg . The area within the triangle Würzburg -Wertheim-Gemünden is sometimes referred to as Würzburger Spessart . The lowest strata of the Spessart are made up of gneiss and mica schist , dating back around 1,200 million years. These rock types are most visible in the Vorspessart . On top of this

14880-569: The Thirty Years' War, bands of brigands began to operate in the Spessart ( Spessarträuber ). Due to the area's low density of population, important trade routes passing through lonely forest territory and the Spessart's extremely fragmented political situation (there were at times 17 separate jurisdictions), banditry was a lucrative business. Although merchant "caravans" of up to 70 wagons banded together for mutual protection, bands of brigands repeatedly succeeded in spectacular raids that made them

15040-533: The US. High purity cobalt was highly sought after for its use in jet engines and gas turbines. An adequate supply of the ore was found in Idaho near Blackbird canyon . Calera Mining Company started production at the site. Cobalt demand has further accelerated in the 21st century as an essential constituent of materials used in rechargeable batteries, superalloys, and catalysts. It has been argued that cobalt will be one of

15200-475: The abundant local supply of firewood (e.g. at Wiesthal, Weibersbrunn, Neuhütten, Heigenbrücken, Einsiedel and Heinrichsthal). Glass production then required an annual amount of wood roughly translating to 20 to 30 hectares of forest per foundry. By the early 15th century, the four foundries located in the territory controlled by Mainz produced around 230,000 pieces of blown glass and 3,000 zentner of flat glass each year. Most of these enterprises were discontinued by

15360-420: The ancestral lineage of true woodpeckers ( Hemicircus excepting). The inner rectrix pairs became stiffened, and the pygostyle lamina was enlarged in the ancestral lineage of true woodpeckers ( Hemicircus included), which facilitated climbing head first up tree limbs. Genus Hemicircus excepting, the tail feathers were further transformed for specialized support, the pygostyle disc became greatly enlarged, and

15520-407: The anhydrous dichloride is blue, the hydrate is red. The reduction potential for the reaction Co + e → Co is +1.92 V, beyond that for chlorine to chloride, +1.36 V. Consequently, cobalt(III) chloride would spontaneously reduce to cobalt(II) chloride and chlorine. Because the reduction potential for fluorine to fluoride is so high, +2.87 V, cobalt(III) fluoride

15680-411: The area is temperate oceanic , featuring cool summers and relatively mild winters. In the Main valley, the average yearly temperature is around 8 to 9 degrees Celsius. In the central massif ( Hochspessart ) it is 6 to 7 degrees. The presence of extended woodlands results in high humidity and especially in the valleys there is often fog. The largest amount of precipitation falls in the elevated region of

15840-527: The atmosphere, weathering occurs; the sulfide minerals oxidize and form pink erythrite ("cobalt glance": Co 3 (AsO 4 ) 2 ·8H 2 O ) and spherocobaltite (CoCO 3 ). Cobalt is also a constituent of tobacco smoke . The tobacco plant readily absorbs and accumulates heavy metals like cobalt from the surrounding soil in its leaves. These are subsequently inhaled during tobacco smoking . The main ores of cobalt are cobaltite , erythrite , glaucodot and skutterudite (see above), but most cobalt

16000-608: The back of donkeys) from what is today Bad Orb to the Main near Großheubach where it was loaded on ships. The other, the Birkenhainer Strasse , connected Hanau in the west to Gemünden in the east, cutting across the wide loop of the Main known as Mainviereck . This route seems to have been in use as early as Neolithic times and was heavily frequented. The name probably derived from a grove of birch trees near Geiselbach. A major regional industry in medieval and early modern times were glass foundries that made use of

16160-438: The bills of piculets and wrynecks, but their morphology is very similar. The bill's chisel-like tip is kept sharp by the pecking action in birds that regularly use it on wood. The beak consists of three layers; an outer sheath called rhamphotheca , made of scales formed from keratin proteins, an inner layer of bone which has a large cavity and mineralised collagen fibers, and a middle layer made of porous bone which connects

16320-414: The black cobalt(II) sulfides , CoS 2 ( pyrite structure), Co 2 S 3 ( spinel structure ), and CoS ( nickel arsenide structure). Four dihalides of cobalt(II) are known: cobalt(II) fluoride (CoF 2 , pink), cobalt(II) chloride (CoCl 2 , blue), cobalt(II) bromide (CoBr 2 , green), cobalt(II) iodide (CoI 2 , blue-black). These halides exist in anhydrous and hydrated forms. Whereas

16480-428: The blue cobalt(II,III) oxide (Co 3 O 4 ), which has a spinel structure . Black cobalt(III) oxide (Co 2 O 3 ) is also known. Cobalt oxides are antiferromagnetic at low temperature : CoO ( Néel temperature 291 K) and Co 3 O 4 (Néel temperature: 40 K), which is analogous to magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ), with a mixture of +2 and +3 oxidation states. The principal chalcogenides of cobalt are

16640-409: The central uplands of the range, stretching around 50 kilometres west to east and almost 100 kilometres north to south. The area contains around 70,000 hectares of forest, which was protected from logging during the Middle Ages due to its use as a hunting preserve. Finally, the region between Gemünden, Wertheim, Miltenberg and Klingenberg is known as Mainspessart . The major natural regions making up

16800-459: The chance of being usurped from their nesting sites; for example, the red-crowned woodpecker digs its nest in the underside of a small branch, which reduces the chance that a larger species will take it over and expand it. Members of Picidae are typically monogamous, with a few species breeding cooperatively and some polygamy reported in a few others. Polyandry , where a female raises two broods with two separate males, has also been reported in

16960-475: The cobalt ore may have got its name from "a type of mine spirit/demon" ( daemon metallicus ) while stating that this is "apparently" the kobold. Joseph William Mellor (1935) also stated that cobalt may derive from kobalos ( κόβαλος ), though other theories had been suggested. Several alternative etymologies that have been suggested, which may not involve a spirit (kobel or kobold) at all. Karl Müller-Fraureuth conjectured that kobelt derived from Kübel ,

17120-400: The commercial use of the area. The rest of the forest would be unaffected. All of the land area would be state-owned, no private land would be included. However, a controversy soon erupted about the plan. Critics argued that they would lose the right to access water sources on public land, that the zones of strict environmental protection would result in the uncontrolled spread of pests such as

17280-454: The critics were misplaced or exaggerated. The protests by local property owners/residents against the plan were ultimately successful. In July 2017, the Bavarian state government officially announced that plans for a national park in the Spessart would not be pursued further. The reason given was that no private property rights should be infringed in creating a national park. The Intercity-Express (ICE) route from Frankfurt to Würzburg crosses

17440-465: The deep blue CoCl 2− 4 , which is tetrahedral. Softer ligands like triphenylphosphine form complexes with Co(II) and Co(I), examples being bis- and tris(triphenylphosphine)cobalt(I) chloride, CoCl 2 (PPh 3 ) 2 and CoCl(PPh 3 ) 3 . These Co(I) and Co(II) complexes represent a link to the organometallic complexes described below. Cobaltocene is a structural analog to ferrocene , with cobalt in place of iron. Cobaltocene

17600-695: The eight other families in the order Piciformes is shown in the cladogram below. The number of species in each family is taken from the list maintained by Frank Gill , Pamela C. Rasmussen and David Donsker on behalf of the International Ornithological Committee (IOC). Galbulidae – jacamars (18 species) Bucconidae – puffbirds (38 species) Indicatoridae – honeyguides (16 species) Picidae – woodpeckers (240 species) Megalaimidae – Asian barbets (35 species) Lybiidae – African barbets (42 species) Capitonidae – New World barbets (15 species) Semnornithidae – toucan barbets (2 species) Ramphastidae – toucans (43 species) The name Picidae for

17760-409: The exception of the green and middle-spotted woodpeckers, the increase in the amount of deadwood is likely to be the major factor explaining the population increase of these species. Most woodpeckers live solitary lives, but their behavior ranges from highly antisocial species that are aggressive towards their own kind, to species that live in groups. Solitary species defend such feeding resources as

17920-455: The extinct imperial woodpecker , at 55 to 61 cm (22 to 24 in), and ivory-billed woodpecker , around 48 to 53 cm (19 to 21 in) and 516 g (18.2 oz), were probably both larger. The plumage of woodpeckers varies from drab to conspicuous. The colours of many species are based on olive and brown and some are pied, suggesting a need for camouflage ; others are boldly patterned in black, white, and red, and many have

18080-502: The extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specialises in exploiting cacti. Members of this family are chiefly known for their characteristic behaviour. They mostly forage for insect prey on the trunks and branches of trees, and often communicate by drumming with their beaks, producing

18240-568: The family was introduced by English zoologist William Elford Leach in a guide to the contents of the British Museum published in 1819. The phylogeny has been updated according to new knowledge about convergence patterns and evolutionary history. Most notably, the relationship of the Picinae genera has been largely clarified, and the Antillean piculet was found to be a surviving offshoot of protowoodpeckers. Genetic analysis supports

18400-458: The first (hallux) and the fourth facing backward and the second and third facing forward. This foot arrangement is good for grasping the limbs and trunks of trees. Members of this family can walk vertically up tree trunks, which is beneficial for activities such as foraging for food or nest excavation. In addition to their strong claws and feet, woodpeckers have short, strong legs. This is typical of birds that regularly forage on trunks. Exceptions are

18560-725: The foliage. Where possible, an area of rotten wood surrounded by sound timber is used. Where trees are in short supply, the gilded flicker and ladder-backed woodpecker excavate holes in cactus, and the Andean flicker and ground woodpecker dig holes in earth banks. The campo flicker sometimes chooses termite mounds, the rufous woodpecker prefers to use ants' nests in trees and the bamboo woodpecker specialises in bamboos. Woodpeckers also excavate nest holes in residential and commercial structures and wooden utility poles. Woodpeckers and piculets excavate their own nests, but wrynecks do not, and need to find pre-existing cavities. A typical nest has

18720-448: The free (but alloyed) metal. Cobalt in compound form occurs in copper and nickel minerals. It is the major metallic component that combines with sulfur and arsenic in the sulfidic cobaltite (CoAsS), safflorite (CoAs 2 ), glaucodot ( (Co,Fe)AsS ), and skutterudite (CoAs 3 ) minerals. The mineral cattierite is similar to pyrite and occurs together with vaesite in the copper deposits of Katanga Province . When it reaches

18880-418: The hcp and fcc structures is 450 °C (842 °F), but in practice the energy difference between them is so small that random intergrowth of the two is common. Cobalt is a weakly reducing metal that is protected from oxidation by a passivating oxide film. It is attacked by halogens and sulfur . Heating in oxygen produces Co 3 O 4 which loses oxygen at 900 °C (1,650 °F) to give

19040-652: The inhabitants of villages around the periphery like Klingenberg, Miltenberg, Kreuzwertheim , Lohr or Gemünden. From the valley of the Sinn, the Counts of Rieneck and the Knights of the Thüngen family (at Burgsinn ) also attempted to expand into the Spessart. However, their efforts were hindered by their insular position, sandwiched between the substantial holdings of the great ecclesial powers of Fulda , Würzburg and Mainz . The latter acquired local influence not least via

19200-504: The inspiration for the glass coffin featured in the fairy tale. Other popular characters from German folklore also appear prominently in legends from the region. In stark contrast to the Grimm brothers' version, the more rural, precarious lifes of Spessart folks made Mother Hulda , generally a regular staple in middle German tales, a much more brutal and unfathomable figure, at times even resorting to killing people. A similar female appearance

19360-414: The main characters and elements like the magic mirror. Along that line of interpretation, the seven dwarfs appearing in the story are actually based on stunted miners from the Bieber region. Also the use of children for mining in very tight crawlspaces and the unhealthy working conditions often caused medieval and early modern miners to be stunted or otherwise deformed. Local glass production could have been

19520-443: The main objects of geopolitical competition in a world running on renewable energy and dependent on batteries, but this perspective has also been criticised for underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production. The stable form of cobalt is produced in supernovae through the r-process . It comprises 0.0029% of the Earth's crust . Except as recently delivered in meteoric iron, free cobalt (the native metal )

19680-612: The mid- Miocene (10–15 Mya), all picids seem to have been small or mid-sized birds similar to a mixture between a piculet and a wryneck. A feather enclosed in fossil amber from the Dominican Republic , dated to about 25 Mya, however, seems to indicate that the Nesoctitinae were already a distinct lineage by then. Stepwise adaptations for drilling, tapping, and climbing head first on vertical surfaces have been suggested. The last common ancestor of woodpeckers (Picidae)

19840-419: The most heavily wooded Central Upland range in Germany. There are no cities or large towns inside the park; instead they lie around the forested region. The larger Bavarian part of the park was established in 1961 as the very first one within that state, the Hessian one followed in 1962. The Bavarian Spessart Nature Park ( Naturpark Bayerischer Spessart ) measures 171,000 hectares in area and includes part of

20000-586: The most stable, Co , has a half-life of 5.2714 years; Co has a half-life of 271.8 days; Co has a half-life of 77.27 days; and Co has a half-life of 70.86 days. All the other radioactive isotopes of cobalt have half-lives shorter than 18 hours, and in most cases shorter than 1 second. This element also has 4 meta states , all of which have half-lives shorter than 15 minutes. The isotopes of cobalt range in atomic weight from 50 u ( Co) to 73 u ( Co). The primary decay mode for isotopes with atomic mass unit values less than that of

20160-517: The mutual recognition of conspecifics and plays a part in courtship rituals. Individual birds are thought to be able to distinguish the drumming of their mates and those of their neighbors. Drumming can be reliably used to distinguish between multiple species in a region, even if those species are phenotypically similar. Cadence (or the mean number of drum beats per second) is heavily conserved within species. Comparative analyses within species between distant geographic populations have shown that cadence

20320-407: The nests of arboreal ants, and the buff-spotted woodpecker feeds on and nests in termite mounds . Other species, such as the wrynecks and the Andean flicker, feed wholly or partly on the ground. Ecologically, woodpeckers help to keep trees healthy by keeping them from suffering mass infestations. The family is noted for its ability to acquire wood-boring grubs from the trunks and branches, whether

20480-474: The notoriety of the ore. Paracelsus , Georgius Agricola , and Basil Valentine all referred to such silicates as "cobalt". Swedish chemist Georg Brandt (1694–1768) is credited with discovering cobalt c.  1735 , showing it to be a previously unknown element, distinct from bismuth and other traditional metals. Brandt called it a new "semi-metal", naming it for the mineral from which he had extracted it. He showed that compounds of cobalt metal were

20640-417: The only stable isotope, Co, is electron capture and the primary mode of decay in isotopes with atomic mass greater than 59 atomic mass units is beta decay . The primary decay products below Co are element 26 ( iron ) isotopes; above that the decay products are element 28 (nickel) isotopes. Many different stories about the origin of the word "cobalt" have been proposed. In one version the element cobalt

20800-430: The ores to cobalt sulfate , and the copper and the iron are oxidized to the oxide. Leaching with water extracts the sulfate together with the arsenates . The residues are further leached with sulfuric acid , yielding a solution of copper sulfate. Cobalt can also be leached from the slag of copper smelting. The products of the above-mentioned processes are transformed into the cobalt oxide (Co 3 O 4 ). This oxide

20960-399: The original tree cover there was largely gone by the 15th century as a result of the substantial fuel needs of the local glass foundry industry. The Spessart provides a habitat for numerous species of animals. Deer , wild boars and foxes are quite common. There are also badgers , raccoons , European wildcats , Eurasian lynx and marten . The beaver , although hunted to extinction in

21120-419: The plan. In a short time he was able to collect over 7,000 signatures against the national park. Local farmer associations and hunting groups joined the cause. Residents have protested against the plan by posting signs, attending demonstrations and organizing local referendums. Support for the plan came from environmentalists, as well as from many forestry workers, who argued that many of the concerns advanced by

21280-415: The protagonist of what is widely regarded as the first major German novel, Simplicius Simplicissimus , written in 1668 by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen , and vividly depicting the social consequences of the Thirty Years' War . Probably even more important in shaping public perceptions of the region has been Wilhelm Hauff 's novella Das Wirtshaus im Spessart ("The Spessart Inn"). It features

21440-721: The region, has been successfully re-established since the 1980s along several river valleys (Hafenlohr, Sinn). Several species of woodpecker are found in the Spessart: black, great spotted, middle spotted, green and grey-faced. The region has been inhabited since at least the Bronze Age , although settlement of the higher elevations was slow and initially the population was concentrated in the valleys. Bronze Age tumuli have been found north of Alzenau , near Geiselbach and Mömbris as well as near Pflaumheim, southwest of Aschaffenburg. Other tumuli were found near Kleinwallstadt , between Elsenfeld and Eichelsbach, near Klingenberg and on

21600-537: The region. Besides the Benedictinians at Amorbach and Seligenstadt, the Benedictine abbey at Neustadt am Main was founded around 770. Kloster Neustadt received gifts of substantial woodlands from Charlemagne and was tasked by him with spreading Christianity in the region. Around the year 800, Charlemagne had Saxons settle in the Vorspessart . Subsequent efforts to settle the uplands were made by

21760-405: The river Kinzig. Although they compiled Grimms' Fairy Tales , their world-famous collection of fairy tales, only in 1812 and after having moved to Kassel , regional legends from their childhood did feature in that collection. Thus, the tale of Snow White may have originated in the Spessart heartlands, with the town of Lohr pushing forward a substantial case for being the home and inspiration for

21920-746: The rulers provided land and cattle as well as forestry and fishing rights. In the 13th and 14th century, the Archbishops of Mainz expanded their influence and territory in the region. In the 14th century, they set up a system of local representatives ( Forst- and Bachhuben ) who were in charge of supervising hunting and forestry ( Forsthuben ) or fishing and organising the rafting of logs downriver ( Bachhuben ). These positions were mostly filled with lesser nobles who built fortified houses (e.g. at Oberaulenbach near Eschau and at Sommerau). In total there were 18 to 22 of these Huben (or Hufen , so called after an area of land that could be circuited on horseback in

22080-550: The sandstone predominating in most of the Spessart proper. However, the north-south rift that follows the river Main along the western leg of the Maindreieck does not match exactly the geological divide between the sandstone and the Muschelkalk. For around 60 kilometres the rift parallels the Main from Gemünden to Triefenstein . The hills east of the river thus resemble those of the Spessart geologically. The climate of

22240-467: The service of the Archbishops of Mainz, later became their rivals in the struggle for the Spessart's resources. Until the family died out in 1543, the rivalry between Mainz and Rieneck dominated the area's history. Although sparsely populated in the Middle Ages, the Spessart at the time was crossed by two important trading routes. One, known as the Eselsweg ("donkey path") was used to transport salt (on

22400-424: The sounds they make tend to be simpler in structure. Calls produced include brief, high-pitched notes, trills, rattles, twittering, whistling, chattering, nasal churrs, screams, and wails. These calls are used by both sexes in communication and are related to the circumstances of the occasion; these include courtship, territorial disputes, and alarm calls. Each species has its own range of calls, which tend to be in

22560-546: The source of the blue color in glass, which previously had been attributed to the bismuth found with cobalt. Cobalt became the first metal to be discovered since the pre-historical period. All previously known metals (iron, copper, silver, gold, zinc, mercury, tin, lead and bismuth) had no recorded discoverers. During the 19th century, a significant part of the world's production of cobalt blue (a pigment made with cobalt compounds and alumina) and smalt ( cobalt glass powdered for use for pigment purposes in ceramics and painting)

22720-433: The southern Rhön (north of Gemünden and east of the Sinn river) and extends to the southern side of the Main river between Marktheidenfeld and Karlstadt . It features the largest continuous mixed forest in Germany. The Hessian Spessart Nature Park ( Naturpark Hessischer Spessart ) covers 72,900 hectares and is bordered in the north by the valley of the Kinzig. For the current national park controversy, see below. In

22880-575: The southwest. Another way of describing the extent of the range is by naming the rivers that border it: the Main in the south and west, the Kinzig in the north and the Sinn in the northeast. The area of the Spessart totals around 2,440 square kilometres, of which 1,710 square kilometres are part of Bavaria. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level. The highest elevation in

23040-596: The study. The relative positions of Picumninae, Sasiinae and Picinae in the cladogram are uncertain. In the 2017 study the results depended upon which of two different statistical procedures were used to analyse the DNA sequence data. One method found that Sasiinae was sister to Picinae (as shown below), the other method found that Sasiinae was sister to a clade containing both Picumninae and Picinae. Jynx – 2 species (wrynecks) Picumnus – 26 species (piculets) Verreauxia – African piculet Cobalt Cobalt

23200-540: The technique is not restricted to these, and others such as the acorn woodpecker and white-headed woodpecker also feed on sap. The technique was once thought to be restricted to the New World, but Old World species, such as the Arabian woodpecker and great spotted woodpecker, also feed in this way. All members of the family Picidae nest in cavities, nearly always in the trunks and branches of trees, well away from

23360-761: The terror of the region. Bandit activity again peaked in the early 19th century (1803–11), during the Napoleonic Wars and following the fall of the Holy Roman Empire . It was only after the end of the political fragmentation in the region that law and order were restored. The last Spessarträuber were executed at Heidelberg in 1812. After the 17th century, Eisenhammer  [ de ] ("iron hammers") were set up, using water power to create wrought iron . These early industrial establishments were at Laufach, Waldaschaff, Schafsteg, Höllhammer, Lichtenau and Wintersbach. The last of these still in operation

23520-508: The timber indicating where creating a hole would be productive. Crustaceans , molluscs , and carrion may be eaten by some species, including the great spotted woodpecker, and bird feeders are visited for suet and domestic scraps. Other means are also used to garner prey. Some species, such as the red-naped sapsucker, sally into the air to catch flying insects, and many species probe into crevices and under bark, or glean prey from leaves and twigs. The rufous woodpecker specialises in attacking

23680-446: The timber is alive or dead. Having hammered a hole into the wood, the prey is extracted by use of a long, barbed tongue. Woodpeckers consume beetles that burrow into trees, removing as many as 85% of emerald ash borer larvae from individual ash trees. The ability to excavate allows woodpeckers to obtain tree sap , an important source of food for some species. Most famously, the sapsuckers (genus Sphyrapicus ) feed in this fashion, but

23840-408: The time was Georgius Agricola . He was also the oft-quoted authority on the mine spirits called " kobel " (Latinized as cobalus or pl. cobali ) in a separate work. Agricola did not make an connection between the similarly named ore and spirit. However, a causal connection (ore blamed on "kobel") was made by a contemporary, and a word origin connection (word "formed" from cobalus ) made by

24000-633: The two other layers. Furthermore, the tongue bone (or hyoid bone) of the woodpecker is very long, and winds around the skull through a special cavity, thereby cushioning the brain. Combined, this anatomy helps the beak absorb mechanical stress. Species of woodpecker and flicker that use their bills in soil or for probing as opposed to regular hammering tend to have longer and more decurved bills. Due to their smaller bill size, many piculets and wrynecks forage in decaying wood more often than woodpeckers. Their long, sticky tongues, which possess barbs, aid these birds in grabbing and extracting insects from deep within

24160-448: The type, is an essential vitamin for all animals. Cobalt in inorganic form is also a micronutrient for bacteria , algae , and fungi . The name cobalt derives from a type of ore considered a nuisance by 16th century German silver miners, which in turn may have been named from a spirit or goblin held superstitiously responsible for it; this spirit is considered equitable to the kobold (a household spirit ) by some, or, categorized as

24320-526: The white color helps the parents to see them in dim light. The eggs are incubated for about 11–14 days before they hatch. About 18–30 days are then needed before the chicks are fully fledged and ready to leave the nest. In most species, soon after this, the young are left to fend for themselves, exceptions being the various social species, and the Hispaniolan woodpecker , where adults continue to feed their young for several months. In general, cavity nesting

24480-466: The woodpecker family ( true woodpeckers , piculets , wrynecks , and sapsuckers ). The clade Pici (woodpeckers, barbets, toucans, and honeyguides) is well supported and shares a zygodactyl foot with the Galbuli (puffbirds and jacamars). More recently, several DNA sequence analyses have confirmed that Pici and Galbuli are sister groups. The phylogenetic relationship between the woodpeckers and

24640-661: The world's oceanic islands , although many insular species are found on continental islands . The true woodpeckers, subfamily Picinae , are distributed across the entire range of the family. The Picumninae piculets have a pantropical distribution, with species in Southeast Asia , Africa, and the Neotropics , with the greatest diversity being in South America. The second piculet subfamily, the Sasiinae, contains

24800-486: Was able to change to cobalt-free alternatives. In 1938, John Livingood and Glenn T. Seaborg discovered the radioisotope cobalt-60 . This isotope was famously used at Columbia University in the 1950s to establish parity violation in radioactive beta decay . After World War II, the US wanted to guarantee the supply of cobalt ore for military uses (as the Germans had been doing) and prospected for cobalt within

24960-557: Was being proposed as more convincing. Somewhat later, Paul Kretschmer (1928) explained that while this "house ruler" etymology was the proper one that backed the original meaning of kobold as household spirit, a corruption later occurred introducing the idea of "mine demon" to it. The present edition of the Etymologisches Wörterbuch (25th ed., 2012) under "kobold" lists the latter, not Grimm's etymology, but still persists, under its entry for "kobalt", that while

25120-723: Was carried out at the Norwegian Blaafarveværket . The first mines for the production of smalt in the 16th century were located in Norway, Sweden, Saxony and Hungary. With the discovery of cobalt ore in New Caledonia in 1864, the mining of cobalt in Europe declined. With the discovery of ore deposits in Ontario , Canada, in 1904 and the discovery of even larger deposits in the Katanga Province in

25280-433: Was incapable of climbing up tree trunks or excavating nest cavities by drilling with its beak. The first adaptations for drilling (including reinforced rhamphotheca , frontal overhang, and processus dorsalis pterygoidei ) evolved in the ancestral lineage of piculets and true woodpeckers. Additional adaptations for drilling and tapping (enlarged condylus lateralis of the quadrate and fused lower mandible) have evolved in

25440-443: Was named after " kobelt ", the name which 16th century German silver miners had given to a nuisance type of ore which occurred that was corrosive and issued poisonous gas. Although such ores had been used for blue pigmentation since antiquity, the Germans at that time did not have the technology to smelt the ore into metal (cf. § History below). The authority on such kobelt ore (Latinized as cobaltum or cadmia ) at

25600-569: Was ultimately named for the kobold . Today, some cobalt is produced specifically from one of a number of metallic-lustered ores, such as cobaltite (CoAsS). The element is more usually produced as a by-product of copper and nickel mining. The Copperbelt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia yields most of the global cobalt production. World production in 2016 was 116,000 tonnes (114,000 long tons; 128,000 short tons) (according to Natural Resources Canada ), and

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