Woodpeckers were used as specific indicators of forest avian diversity because their existence was positively correlated with the richness of other forest birds. Further, woodpeckers primarily excavate cavities in trees for their nesting and then donate for secondary cavity-nester. Additionally, they are indicators of forest conditions because they are highly susceptible to the habitat changes. Thus, woodpeckers play essential roles in forestry ecosystem. Currently, 254 species are recognized as woodpeckers (Picidae) which have further been classified 33 genera. On the one hand, some misconception existed in the previous studies which were associated with mimicry, convergent evolution, and parallel evolution. On the other hand, molecular phylogenetic studies have generally focused on some specific clades. The taxonomy system of woodpeckers is controversial now. It is not easy to study woodpecker family because of their significant species number and the vast distribution ranges, though the aggregation of DNA sequence data in public repositories make things easier. We hope to achieve a molecular phylogenetic study of woodpeckers using these data. We downloaded ND2 gene sequence data of 179 out of the 254 recognized species of woodpeckers and the cytb gene sequence data of Dryobates and Picoides genus from GenBank. Using ND2 gene sequence data, we constructed the phylogenetic trees of 179 species of woodpeckers through Neighbour-Joining (NJ), Maximum-Parsimony (MP), and maximum-likelihood (ML) methods, respectively. Subsequently, we considered Jynx ruficollis as an outgroup and constructed the phylogenetic tree for Picumnus genus using ND2 gene sequence data through the Neighbour-Joining method. Correspondingly, we compared cytb gene sequence data for Dryobates and Picoides genus to reconstruct the trees. We found some differences in our trees which were constructed by different methods. Compared with previous studies, we observed that the ML tree of the 179 woodpeckers was more satisfactory out of three sorts of our constructed phylogenetic trees. Our results support many relationships observed in previous studies and also find some new facts. Initially, our results show a divergence underestimation of P. innominatus which is the only Old World specie in Picumnus genus. We realized that the relationship between other New World species in this genus needed to explore more deeply. Additionally, there are two points need to be highlighted about Picinae. Firstly, there is a need to create a sister relationship between Hemicircus and Nesoctites genus. Secondly, it is required to insert Geocolaptes olivaceus in the clade of Campethera genus. Finally, we observed some sister groups distributed in both New World and Old World. We rebuilt the NJ trees of Picumnus, Dryobates, and Picoides genus as sister groups and each genus consist of both New World and Old World species. Our result implies that these sister groups might be associated with the Pleistocene glacial era. Following glacial cycles of the Pleistocene, there is a circulation of expansion and shrinkage of woodpecker distribution ranges, and it influences the speciation and distributions of Picidae to form modern distribution. Our results revealed an Old World origin of woodpeckers.