Ochraceous Piculet
Picumnus limae
Tiny woodpecker endemic to northeast Brazil. Gray above and whitish-buff below, with a black cap spotted white. Males have a red forehead. Found in deciduous and semi-deciduous forest, second growth, and nearby tall dry shrubs (caatinga). Call a high-pitched “sirr-sirr-sirr” and a descending trill “driée driée driée...”
Identification
The ochraceous piculet is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long and weighs 8 to 12 g (0.28 to 0.42 oz). Adult males have a black cap with red tips on the forehead feathers and small white spots on the rest of the cap. Adult females are identical but for no red on the forehead. The species' upperparts vary from grayish to brownish with a whitish nape. Their underparts vary from whitish yellow to rusty brown, sometimes with paler streaks. Both the upper- and underparts' colors form a cline, with the lightest members in the north and darkest in the south. Their tail is blackish; the innermost pair of feathers have mostly white inner webs and the outer two pairs have a white patch near the end. Their iris is brown, the bill gray with a blackish tip, and the legs gray. Juveniles are similar to adults other than having a brown crown with white streaks on the side.
Taxonomy
The ochraceous piculet is monotypic according to the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society, the International Ornithological Committee, and the Clements taxonomy. However, BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) treats the darker, southern, population as a separate species, the tawny piculet (P. fulvescens). The other three taxonomic systems had earlier separated them but have concluded that the color differences used for the differentiation are along a cline and that any division is arbitrary. The distribution along the color cline generally follows Gloger's rule.<p>This article follows the single-species model.
- Scientific name
- Picumnus limae
- Authority
- Snethlage, E, 1924
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Picumnus
Range and habitat
The ochraceous piculet occurs in northeastern Brazilian from the state of Ceará south to Sergipe and inland into Piauí. It inhabits a variety of landscapes within the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest ecoregions, from rather dry open forests in the north to dense humid ones in the south. It occurs both in primary forest and in human-modified ones such as urban parks.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The ochraceous piculet is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>Little detail is known about the foraging behavior and diet of the ochraceous piculet. It does feed on small branches; its diet is known to include insect larvae.<p>The ochraceous piculet's breeding season apparently spans from November to August. Both sexes excavate a nest hole, which can be in the trunk of a tree or sometimes a fence post, and typically between 1 and 4 m (3 and 13 ft) above the ground. The clutch size varies from one to four eggs and both sexes incubate them and provision the nestlings. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.<p>The ochraceous piculet's vocalizations vary little if at all among populations. Its song is generally a "series of high-pitched, fast trills starting with longer, higher frequency phrases and ending with shorter, lower frequency phrases." That of the northern population has been described as "tee-tee-tee-titiwi" and that of the southern ("tawny") population as "see-see-see-sisi-wi". The species' calls are "unrhythmic, short, high-pitched sounds delivered in a variety of behavioral contexts".
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Cape Batis
Batis capensis
A cute, dumpy, colorful flycatcher-like bird that flits around in the mid-canopy and understory of forest, forest edge, thickets, and gardens. There is a chestnut stripe across the top of the closed wing of both sexes. Males have a broad black chest band, yellow eye, and white throat. Females have a reddish eye and brown chin patch. The song is a series of 8-9 plaintive steady piping “peooop” notes, and calls include buzzing grating “ddrz-drrzt-drrr, ddt-ddzt-drzt-drr”. Distinguished from other batises in its range by the chestnut stripe through the wings.
Grasshopper Sparrow
Ammodramus savannarum
Small, short-tailed, flat-headed sparrow found in weedy grasslands. Warm buffy coloration with clean unstreaked breast. Thin white eyering and yellow patch above eye. Back and wings are patterned with gray and rufous. Easy to see when singing atop a shrub, but can be very secretive much of the year. Best detected by its dry, insect like trill preceded by a few introductory notes. Typically not in flocks.
Fan-tailed Berrypecker
Melanocharis versteri
A fairly small, long-tailed bird of montane forest. Male has black upperparts, gray underparts with white tufts on the sides and white in the base of the outer tail feathers. Female is olive, with yellowish tufts on the sides and a dotted bar in the base of the outer tail feathers. Female is similar to female Papuan Whipbird, but Fan-tailed Berrypecker has a paler belly, side streak, white in the tail, and pale around the base of the bill. Voice, a repeated, falling, nasal “weh!” and a high-pitch clicking call.
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