The bar-breasted piculet is a species of bird in subfamily Picumninae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru.
Region
Western Amazon Basin
Typical Environment
Occurs in lowland forests and edges across western Amazonia, including northern Bolivia, western and southern Amazonian Brazil, eastern Peru, and southeastern Colombia. It favors riverine woodlands, secondary growth, and bamboo thickets, especially along streams and floodplains. The species frequents forest edges, clearings with scattered trees, and varzea as well as terra firme. It typically forages at low to mid-levels, often in dense tangles and bamboo stands.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This tiny woodpecker relative specializes in gleaning insects from slender twigs, stems, and bamboo rather than heavy hammering. Males typically show a small yellowish to orange forecrown patch, while both sexes have the finely barred breast that gives the species its name. It often joins mixed-species flocks in the western Amazon, making it easier to spot as it forages actively. Both parents excavate small nest cavities in soft wood or bamboo.
Temperament
social and active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with undulating flight
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or family groups, and commonly associates with mixed-species foraging flocks. Both sexes excavate a tiny cavity in soft wood or bamboo and share incubation and chick-rearing. Nesting is believed to occur during the local wet season when insect prey is abundant.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives thin, high-pitched tseet notes and brief trills, often delivered from low to mid-level perches. Vocalizations are soft and can be easily masked by forest background noise; drumming is weak or infrequent.
Plumage
Upperparts brownish-olive with fine barring or speckling; underparts buff to whitish with prominent narrow dark bars across the breast and flanks. Crown dark with pale speckling; male shows a small yellow to orange forecrown patch. Throat paler, often buffy-white, contrasting with the barred breast. Tail short with pale barring; overall petite and compact with a short, straight bill.
Diet
Feeds mainly on small arthropods, including ants, beetles, and their larvae, as well as termites and other soft-bodied insects. It gleans prey from fine twigs, petioles, vine tangles, and young bamboo stems rather than drilling into large trunks. The species occasionally probes under bark scales and pecks lightly to expose larvae. Foraging is agile, often involving acrobatic movements along slender branches.
Preferred Environment
Most often forages at forest edges, riverine woodland, and secondary growth, especially in bamboo thickets. It works low to mid-canopy strata where thin substrates are abundant. Frequently attends mixed flocks moving along stream margins and disturbed clearings.
