The chestnut piculet is a species of bird in subfamily Picumninae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela.
Region
Northern South America
Typical Environment
Occurs in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela, including lowlands around the Maracaibo basin and Caribbean foothills. It inhabits tropical lowland forests, dry to semi-humid woodland, gallery forest along rivers, and mangroves. Frequently uses secondary growth, thickets, hedgerows, and forest edges. Forages from the understory to mid-canopy, especially on slender branches and dead twigs.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 800 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 2/5
One of the tiniest woodpeckers, the chestnut piculet specializes in foraging on thin twigs and vine tangles where larger woodpeckers cannot work. Males typically show a few reddish or buffy spots on the crown, which females lack. Its drumming is very soft and brief, and it is often detected by high, thin calls rather than hammering. It readily uses disturbed edges and secondary growth.
Temperament
shy but active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief undulations
Social Behavior
Usually seen singly, in pairs, or small family groups; often joins mixed-species flocks in the understory and midstory. Nests are excavated in soft, dead twigs or slender branches, with both sexes participating in excavation and incubation. Territorial calling and soft tapping are common during the breeding period.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Gives high, thin seee or tsee notes and short, descending trills. Drumming is very soft and brief, often just a few taps, and can be easy to miss in ambient forest noise.
Plumage
Mostly rich chestnut to cinnamon upperparts with fine pale spotting and subtle barring; underparts buffy to whitish with delicate dusky barring or scaling on the flanks. Crown finely spotted; males show small reddish to orange-tipped spots on the forecrown. Short, straight chisel-tipped bill and relatively plain face with a pale throat.
Diet
Feeds primarily on small insects and their larvae, including ants, termites, and beetle larvae. Gleans and probes bark crevices of thin branches, vines, and dead twigs rather than heavy trunks. Occasionally pecks into soft wood and may take small arthropods from leaf surfaces.
Preferred Environment
Forages along edges, secondary growth, gallery forest margins, and mangroves where slender perches are abundant. Often works in the understory to mid-canopy and along vine tangles.
