Ochraceous Piculet - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by Ciro Albano
Icapuí, state of Ceará, Brazil, October 2005

Includes Tawny Piculet

Picumnus limae

Identification

10cm. A tiny woodpecker.

• Black top of head with white spots, male with broad red feather tips on crown
• White lores and nasal tufts
• White line behind eye
• Pale rusty-brown ear-coverts
• Greyish-brown upperparts, dark brown upperwings
• White underparts with buff or pale yellow tinge

Juveniles undescribed.

Variation

A clinal variation exists with the above description covering the classical Ochraceous Piculet while the end of the cline that used to be known as Tawny Piculet are much warmer colored on underside and for females also on upperside. The variation between these two extremes is clinal, no distinct point where the plumage changes.

Distribution

Male of the type previously known as Tawny Piculet
Photo © by Ciro Albano
Arajara Park, state of Ceará, Brazil, October 2005

Northeastern Brazil (Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Alagoas)

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.
Tawny Piculet is currently considered a junior synonym if this species.

Habitat

Atlantic forest, dry forest and adjacent tall caatinga.
Occurs up to 1000m.

Behaviour

Female of the type previously known as Tawny Piculet
Photo © by Francisco Paludo
Arajara Park, Barbalha, CE, Brazil, July, 2017

No information about diet.
Nests in a hole excavated in dead wood in soft wood trees or fence posts. Up to 4 eggs are laid. Incubation and care of young involve both sexes.
Presumably a resident species.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 2002. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 7: Jacamars to Woodpeckers. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334375
3. Da Silva et al. 2012. Ornithologia Neotropical 23: 429-37

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Ochraceous Piculet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Ochraceous_Piculet

External Links

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Use Picumnus+fulvescens (scientific name for former Tawny Piculet) to

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