Bar-breasted Piculet

Identification

The bar-breasted piculet is the smallest extant species in the highly diverse woodpecker family. A typical adult is about 7.5 cm (3.0 in) long and weighs 8 to 10 g (0.28 to 0.35 oz). Males average 9.2 g (0.32 oz) and females 8.6 g (0.30 oz). Among standard measurements, their wing chord is 4.4 to 5.3 cm (1.7 to 2.1 in), their tail 2.3 to 2.6 cm (0.91 to 1.02 in), their beak 0.9 to 1.2 cm (0.35 to 0.47 in), and their tarsus 1.1 to 1.2 cm (0.43 to 0.47 in). Adult males of the nominate subspecies P. a. aurifrons have a black crown with yellow streaks on the forehead and white spots on the rest, and gray-brown cheeks with a whitish line behind the eye. Their upperparts are olive green. The upper surface of their tail is black; the innermost pair of feathers have whitish yellow inner webs and the outer two pairs have a whitish patch near the end. Their chin and throat are whitish with faint dark barring. Their underparts are yellowish white with brown barring on the breast, arrowhead-shaped marks on the sides of the breast and upper belly, and broad brown streaks on the flanks and lower belly. Adult females are identical but for white spots on their entire crown. Juveniles are similar to adults with a browner streaked (not spotted) crown and lighter streaking on the belly.<p>Subspecies P. a. purusianus has darker upperparts than the nominate and heavier, black, barring on the breast. P. a. flavifrons is similar to purusianus but has faint barring on the upperparts, less heavy breast barring, and a heavily spotted belly. P. a. wallacii has obscure barring on its upperparts and paler underparts with fainter streaking and more spots than the previous two. P. a. transfasciatus has heavy barring on its upperparts and breast. P. a. borbae has red streaks on its forehead and a yellower belly than the nominate with stronger black barring on the breast. P. a. juruanus has reddish orange streaks on its forehead but much weaker barring on its breast than borbae.

Taxonomy

The bar-breasted piculet has seven subspecies:<p>Subspecies P. a. borbae and P. a. wallacii have at times been treated as individual species, with P. a. juruanus as a subspecies of borbae.

Scientific name

Picumnus aurifrons

Authority

Pelzeln, 1870

Order

Piciformes

Family

Picidae

Genus

Picumnus

Range and habitat

The bar-breasted piculet is a bird of the Amazon Basin. The subspecies are found thus:<p>The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society extends the range of P. a. flavifrons into southeastern Colombia.<p>The bar-breasted piculet primarily inhabits the edges and clearings of humid tropical terra firme forest. It also occurs in várzea forest and secondary forest. In elevation it ranges from near sea level to 1,100 m (3,600 ft).

Migration

Resident species

Behavior

The bar-breasted piculet is believed to be a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>Little is known about the bar-breasted piculet's foraging strategy, though it appears to prefer the upper canopy. Its diet has not been detailed; it is assumed to be insects and is known to include insect larvae.<p>The bar-breasted piculet's breeding season appears to be from June to November. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.<p>The bar-breasted piculet's call has been described as "tsirrrit-tsit-tsit" and "extr. high, very thin 'see-see-suw'."

Conservation

Population trend

declining