Speckled Piculet
Picumnus innominatus
Unique tiny woodpecker with olive-yellow wings, brown-and-white striped head, and black-spotted white breast and belly. Other piculets in range look very different, being mostly unmarked. Call is an extremely high “tsik tsik tsik.” Drums very loudly for such a diminutive bird. Widespread, found in lowland and foothill forests, often in areas with bamboo stands.
Identification
The male and female birds look alike. They have olive-green backs, with two white stripes on the side of their heads. The male bird has orange and brown on the forecrown. They have a creamy-white coloring below, with black spots. There is a dark green band near the eyes.
Taxonomy
The speckled piculet was formally described in 1836 by the English zoologist Edward Burton under the current binomial name Picumnus innominatus from a specimen collected in the "Himalayas". The locality is taken to be the state of Sikkim in northeast India. The specific epithet innominatus is Latin meaning "unnamed".<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Picumnus innominatus
- Authority
- Burton, E, 1836
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Picumnus
Range and habitat
It is found in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, ranging across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Tibet and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. In India, it is found in the Himalayan foothills, up to an altitude of about 2500m. It can be found in bamboo jungles.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
They usually move about in pairs, on thin branches, and sometimes hang from the branch, upside-down. Their behavior is quite similar to that of woodpeckers.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Thrush Babbler
Illadopsis turdina
A distinctive, richly colored babbler-like skulker with a rufous spotted breast on otherwise whitish underparts. Geographically upperparts vary from rusty to olivaceous. Immature has a paler bill and rustier upperparts than the adult. Pairs are secretive residents in thickets, riparian forest, and dense woodland, especially near streams, foraging close to the ground. Populations are locally common but scattered widely across Africa. Often first detected by its rich melodious song, a fluid oriole-like “whoh-tyaw-li”, with the female sometimes joining in duet.
Anambra Waxbill
Estrilda poliopareia
A plain, somber waxbill with a pale grayish head, olive upperparts, buffy underparts, a distinctive orange-red bill and rump, and pale eyes. Found in pairs and small and large groups; uncommon and localized in rank grass (especially elephant grass), reeds, and sedges on the edges of rivers, swamps, and forest, and also sometimes in agricultural plantations, particularly manioc. Gives a nasal “nyert,” often in concert with others. The similar-looking Orange-cheeked Waxbill associates with Anambra, but always has an orange face patch (duller in juveniles).
Amazonian Plain-Xenops
Xenops genibarbis
Active small bird of humid tropical forest. Usually found singly, often moving with mixed-species feeding flocks. Clambers and climbs on small branches, twigs, and vines, mainly at middle to upper levels inside forest. Often hangs upside down like a chickadee. Note the bold white whisker mark, faint white streaks on the throat and crown, boldly patterned black-and-rusty wings and tail, and short, wedge-shaped bill. Where range overlaps with other xenops species, note the generally much fainter streaking on Amazonian Plain. Song is a short, relatively slow, high-pitched series of wheezy peeping notes.
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