The Black-dotted Piculet (Picumnus nigropunctatus), also known as the Black-spotted Piculet, is a Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n endemic

Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...

 species of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the Picidae

Picidae

The woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks are a family, Picidae, of near-passerine birds. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia and New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions...

, or woodpecker family. Its taxonomic status is controversial.

Distribution and habitat

This species is locally common in areas with bushes or trees (possibly including mangrove

Mangrove

Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...

s), near water or waterlogged, in the Venezuelan coastal lowlands (below 100m) from southern Delta Amacuro

Delta Amacuro

Delta Amacuro State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, and is the location of the Orinoco Delta. The Paria Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean are found to the north, Bolívar State is found to the south, the Atlantic Ocean and Guyana are found to the east, and Monagas State is found to the west...

 to southeastern Sucre

Sucre (state)

Sucre State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Cumaná. Sucre State covers a total surface area of 11,800 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 916,600.-Municipalities and municipal seats:...

.

Description

The Black-dotted Piculet resembles other members of the genus Picumnus

Picumnus (bird)

Picumnus is a large genus of piculets. With a total length of 8–10 cm , they are among the smallest birds in the woodpecker family....

. Its most distinctive mark is pale pure yellow underparts with sparse black dots on the lower breast and usually on the belly and undertail coverts. In southeastern Sucre, a few have finely barred chests. Rare individuals with scaly throats and pale buffy (rather than yellow) underparts resemble the Scaled Piculet

Scaled Piculet

The Scaled Piculet is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . ...

, which can be distinguished by its scaly lower underparts.

The crown is black with narrow scarlet streaks on the forepart and conspicuous white dots on the rear part, or throughout in some females. The upperparts are light olive-brown, slightly yellowish, with dusky spots on the shoulders and back.

The song

Bird song

Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...

 is "2 to several extremely high, thin notes, each slightly lower than the preceding, tseeet, tseeet, tsee, etc." Possibly it is also used as a contact call. Foraging birds may repeat the song a few times and then fall silent for several minutes.

Behavior

Birds of this species forage in pairs, often widely separated, or alone. They occasionally join mixed-species flocks. They often "hitch sideways along branches," and they peck or drill like woodpeckers in rotting wood and at broken ends of branches.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of Picumnus is controversial, and this taxon has been considered conspecific with the White-bellied Piculet

White-bellied Piculet

The White-bellied Piculet is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela....

, conspecific with the Golden-spangled Piculet

Golden-spangled Piculet

The Golden-spangled Piculet is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela....

, and a synonym

Synonym (taxonomy)

In scientific nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that is or was used for a taxon of organisms that also goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linnaeus was the first to give a scientific name to the Norway spruce, which he called Pinus abies...

 (incorrect name) of a subspecies of the Scaled Piculet

Scaled Piculet

The Scaled Piculet is a species of bird in the Picidae family. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and heavily degraded former forest.-References:* BirdLife International 2004. . ...

 (P. squamulatus obsoletus). Here it is considered a separate species following the Handbook of the Birds of the World

Handbook of the Birds of the World

The Handbook of the Birds of the World is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. The series is edited by Josep del Hoyo, Andrew Elliott, Jordi Sargatal and David A Christie.So far, 15...

, which supports this view with a summary of unpublished data from M. Lentino.

External links

• Videos of Picumnus nigropunctatus from the Internet Bird Collection