White-wedged Piculet
Picumnus albosquamatus
Tiny woodpecker occurring in dense savanna and dry forests. The back is olive-brown, spotted white in some regions, and the breast is white with dense black scales or spots depending on region. The crown is black with white spots; males have a red forehead, black in females. The song is high-pitched trill.
Identification
The white-wedged piculet is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long and weighs 9 to 11 g (0.32 to 0.39 oz). Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a black cap with wide red tips on the forehead feathers and small white spots on the rest of the cap. Their face and hindneck are mostly white with a strong brown tinge and a white stripe behind the eye. Their upperparts are warm brown to grayish brown, sometimes with faint pale tips on the feathers. Their flight feathers are dark brown with narrow buffish white edges on the secondaries and tertials. Their tail is dark brown; the innermost pair of feather have mostly white inner webs and the outer two pairs have a wide white patch near the end. Their chin and throat feathers are pale buffish white with black edges that give a scaly appearance. Their underparts are mostly whitish with a pale buff wash; the breast has a scalloped appearance from black feather edges and the belly is plain or slightly streaked. Their iris is brown, the orbital ring grayish, the bill black with a paler base on the mandible, and the legs gray to green-gray. Adult females are identical but for no red on the forehead. Juveniles are duller than adults and their underparts look more barred than scalloped.<p>Subspecies P. a. guttifer is larger than the nominate. It is usually darker, with more contrast on the face, more of a scalloped pattern on the upperparts, and warm buff underparts with wider black edges on the feathers. The male also has more red on the crown than the nominate.
Taxonomy
The white-wedged piculet has two subspecies, the nominate P. a. albosquamatus and P. a. guttifer (Sundevall, 1866). P. a. guttifer has at times been treated as a separate species but intergrades and hybridizes with the nominate. The white-wedged piculet hybridizes with the white-barred piculet (P. cirratus), the ocellated piculet (P. dorbignyanus), and the ochre-collared piculet (P. temminckii).
- Scientific name
- Picumnus albosquamatus
- Authority
- d'Orbigny, 1840
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
- Genus
- Picumnus
Range and habitat
The nominate subspecies of white-wedged piculet is found in north-central and eastern Bolivia, southwestern Brazil's Mato Grosso state, northern Paraguay, and northwestern Argentina. P. a. guttifer is found in eastern and central Brazil from Pará and Maranhão south to Mato Grosso and São Paulo. The species inhabits denser areas in moderately dry cerrado and also gallery forest. In elevation it ranges from the lowlands to as high as 2,100 m (6,900 ft).
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
As far as is known the white-wedged piculet is a year-round resident throughout its range.<p>Almost nothing is known about the white-wedged piculet's foraging technique or diet, but the latter is known to include insects.<p>The white-wedged piculet's breeding season has not been detailed but appears to be concentrated in the second half of the year. It nests in holes; some have been noted in tree branches and at least one in a fence post. The clutch size is at least two eggs and both parents provision nestlings. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.<p>The white-wedged piculet makes a "high-pitched trill, slightly rising at first and then falling gradually in pitch 'tititititititititititi'."
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Slaty-legged Crake
Rallina eurizonoides
Small, chickenlike dweller of dense forests and tangled edges. Dark brown above, with orange head and breast and black-and-white-striped sides. Juvenile similar but with brown head and breast, narrower white stripes below. Dark lead-gray legs distinguish this species from Red-legged, Band-bellied, and Ruddy-breasted crakes, which also show different underpart patterns. Sings at night from favored tree perches, a series of doubled hoots that recall Mountain Scops-Owl.
Oriental Scops-Owl
Otus sunia
Smallish scops-owl with bright yellow eyes. Comes in grayish-brown and bright rufous morphs. Generally weakly marked, without any prominent features: note weak black border to the facial disc, thinly streaked underparts, and short ear tufts (often held flat). Song is a 3- to 4-note series of hollow-sounding notes, with the last two in rapid succession. Inhabits forests, gardens, and parks from lowlands up into foothills; often close to human habitation in parts of its range.
Black-crested Tit-Tyrant
Anairetes nigrocristatus
Beautiful little flycatcher with a spiky crest found in the Andes of northern Peru, just barely reaching over the border into southern Ecuador. Male is quite distinctive with a solid black face, black-and-white streaking, and a long crest that sticks up in front of its white crown. Female and immature are grayer with less contrasting plumage and shorter crest; the orange bill might lead to confusion with Yellow-billed Tit-Tyrant, but Black-crested lacks brown on the back and yellow on the belly. Very similar to Pied-crested Tit-Tyrant, but Black-crested has broader white tips to the tail; also note its more northern range. Inhabits scrub and light woodland, often giving squeaks and rapid trills.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.