Varzea Piculet
Picumnus varzeae
Tiny, dark brown woodpecker. Plumage varies; typically darker and more unmarked in the east and more barred toward the west, but usually looks scaled with white spots. Males have a red forehead. Found across a restricted distribution in seasonally flooded forests and on river islands.
Identification
The varzea piculet is 8 to 9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) long. Adult males have a black cap with a red patch on the forehead and top and white spots on the hindcrown and nape. Their face is mostly dark brown with black and white tips on some feathers. Their upperparts are mostly dark olive brown to greenish brown, sometimes with faint black bars. Their flight feathers are dark brown with pale edges and tips on the secondaries and tertials. Their tail is dark brown; the innermost pair of feathers have mostly white inner webs and the outer two pairs have a narrow white band near the end. Their chin and throat are black-brown with fine white markings. Their underparts are variable but usually brown or greenish brown with black and white feather tips that show in rows. Their iris is brown, the beak is black with a blue-gray base, and the legs and feet are gray. Adult females are identical but for no red on the head. Juveniles are similar to adults but have more barring on their underparts.
Taxonomy
The varzea piculet was first described in 1912 by the German-Brazilian ornithologist Emilie Snethlage who collected birds in Brazil for two decades.<p>At least one author has suggested that the varzea piculet might be a subspecies of the spotted piculet (P. pygmaeus). It occasionally hybridizes with the white-barred piculet (P. cirratus).<p>The specific epithet refers to "várzea", the Brazilian name for the seasonally flooded forest close to the Amazon River.<p>The varzea piculet is monotypic.
- Scientific name
- Picumnus varzeae
- Authority
- Snethlage, E, 1912
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Picumnus
Range and habitat
The varzea piculet is found along the Amazon River from the Rio Negro in the state of Amazonas to the Rio Tapajós in western Pará; the corridor is about 850 km (530 mi) long and up to about 275 km (170 mi). It inhabits dense undergrowth in várzea, a seasonally flooded landscape that is mostly forest but includes grasslands and river islands.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
As far as is known the varzea piculet is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>Nothing is known about the varzea piculet's foraging technique or diet.<p>The varzea piculet's breeding season is poorly known but may be from June to December; young birds have been recorded in September. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.<p>As of early 2023 xeno-canto had only five recordings of the varzea piculet's song. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library had seven with some overlap with xeno-canto. The song has not been transcribed.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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