Mottled piculet

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Mottled piculet
Adult male at Urupema, Santa Catarina state, Brazil

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Picumnus
Species:
P. nebulosus
Binomial name
Picumnus nebulosus
Sundevall, 1866

The mottled piculet (Picumnus nebulosus) is a

Picidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.[2][1]

Taxonomy and systematics

The mottled piculet is

synonymous with P. nebulosus.[3]

Picumnus nebulosus in Quebrada de los Cuervos, Uruguay
Picumnus nebulosus in Quebrada de los Cuervos, Uruguay

Description

The mottled piculet is 10 to 11 cm (3.9 to 4.3 in) long and weighs 11 to 12 g (0.39 to 0.42 oz). Adult males have a black cap and nape with a red patch on the forehead and white spots on the rest of it. Their face is mostly dark olive-brown with some white. Their hindneck and upperparts are warm olive-brown with a buff or rusty tinge on the back. Their flight feathers are dark brown to blackish with wide pale edges on the

tertials. Their tail is black; the innermost pair of feathers have mostly white inner webs and the outer three pairs have a white streak on the outer web. Their chin and throat are white with thin black bars. Their breast is buffish brown, sometimes with dark streaks. Their belly is pale buff and their flanks a richer buff with wide blackish streaks. Their iris is brown, the orbital ring grayish, the beak black with a gray base to the mandible, and the legs gray. Adult females are identical but with white spots throughout the cap and no red. Juveniles are duller than adults and have an dull brown crown with pale buffish streaks.[4][5]

Distribution and habitat

The mottled piculet has an almost unique range. It is found from southeastern Brazil's

Atlantic forest and Araucaria forest, but it also occurs in gallery forest, bamboo thickets, scrubland, and wooded savannah. In elevation it mostly occurs up to 1,100 m (3,600 ft) but has been found as high as 1,400 m (4,600 ft).[4][5]

Behavior

Movement

The mottled piculet is mostly sedentary but is thought to also make some elevational movements.[5]

Feeding

The mottled piculet forages in dense vegetation of the understory and also in trees up to about 8 m (26 ft) above the ground. It takes insect larvae from thin branches, vines, and bamboo stems. It usually forages alone but will join

mixed species foraging flocks.[5][4]

Breeding

The mottled piculet's breeding season is from October to December. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.[5]

Dickcissel male perched on a metal pole singing, with neck stretched and beak open.

Songs and calls
Listen to mottled piculet on xeno-canto

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

The mottled piculet's vocalisations are limited to a repetitive "seep" or "cheep", sometimes linked into a brief trill, and an occasional humming sound. The alarm call is a shrill cricket-like whistling sound. It also drums, particularly on bamboo, in an irregular pattern of two to four rapid strikes.[4]

Status

The

IUCN has assessed the mottled piculet as Near Threatened. It has a somewhat limited range and an unknown population size that is believed to be decreasing. "Current key threats are urbanisation, industrialisation, agricultural expansion, colonisation and associated road-building ."[1] It is considered local and uncommon in Argentina and Uruguay, and more common in Brazil.[5]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22680765A92876921.en
    . Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (August 2022). "Woodpeckers". IOC World Bird List. v 12.2. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  3. ^ Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1770853096
    .
  5. ^ a b c d e f Winkler, H., D. A. Christie, and A. Bonan (2020). Mottled Piculet (Picumnus nebulosus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.motpic1.01 retrieved January 13, 2023
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