Woodwinds are a family of instruments in the more generic family of wind instruments. Woodwind instruments are wind instruments that are, or were once, made of wood. This includes the piccolo, the flute, the oboe, the cor anglais, the clarinet, the saxophone, the bassoon, the bagpipes, and the recorder, among others.
There are two main types of woodwind instruments; flutes which are blown directly by the mouth, and reed instruments, on which the player blows a reed to produce the sound. Examples of flutes are the flute, of course, and the recorder. Examples of reed instruments are the oboe and the clarinet.
Although flutes are made of metal today they are still considered woodwind instruments because they were originally made of wood and because of how its sound is produced. The saxophone is also considered a woodwind instrument, despite being made from metal, because it produces its sound via a wooden reed.
Read about specific woodwind instruments by following the links below.