Mottled Piculet

Overview

The mottled piculet (Picumnus nebulosus) is a small woodpecker in the subfamily Picumninae, found across southeastern Brazil, eastern Uruguay, and northern Argentina. Although assessed as Least Concern by some sources, it is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN due to a limited range and a decreasing population.

Identification

• Size: Very small, measuring 10 to 11 cm in length and weighing 11 to 12 g.
• Plumage: Males possess a black cap and nape with a red patch on the forehead and white spots; females have white spots throughout the cap but lack the red patch. Both sexes feature a white chin and throat with thin black bars, a buffish brown breast, and flanks with wide blackish streaks.
• Bill and Legs: The beak is black with a grey base to the mandible, and the legs are grey.
• Vocalisations: Produces a repetitive "seep" or "cheep" sometimes linked into a trill, and an alarm call described as a shrill, cricket-like whistling sound.

Habitat

This species inhabits lowland evergreen Atlantic forest, Araucaria forest, gallery forest, bamboo thickets, scrubland, and wooded savannah. It typically occurs at elevations up to 1,100 m, though it has been recorded as high as 1,400 m.

Diet

The mottled piculet forages in dense understory vegetation and in trees up to 8 m high, taking insect larvae from thin branches, vines, and bamboo stems. It usually forages alone but occasionally joins mixed-species foraging flocks.

Did you know?

The mottled piculet drums in an irregular pattern of two to four rapid strikes, a behaviour it particularly exhibits on bamboo.