The scaled piculet (''Picumnus squamulatus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Picumninae The piculets are a distinctive subfamily, Picumninae, of small woodpeckers which occur mainly in tropical South America, with just three Asian and one African species. Like the true woodpeckers, piculets have large heads, long tongues which the ...

of the woodpecker family

Picidae Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. M ...

. It is found in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The scaled piculet has these five subspecies: *''P. s. squamulatus'' Lafresnaye, 1854 *''P. s. roehli'' Zimmer, J.T. & Phelps, W.H., 1944 *''P. s. obsoletus'' Allen, J.A., 1892 *''P. s. lovejoyi'' Phelps, W.H. Jr. & Aveledo, 1987 *''P. s. apurensis'' Phelps, W.H. Jr. & Aveledo, 1987 Subspecies ''P. s. lovejoyi'' might not be distictive enough to warrant treatment as a taxon.Winkler, H., D. A. Christie, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Scaled Piculet (''Picumnus squamulatus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, P. G. Rodewald, and T. S. Schulenberg, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.scapic1.01 retrieved January 11, 2023

Description

The scaled piculet is long and weighs . Adult males of the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

''P. s. squamulatus'' have a black cap with red feather tips on the forehead and white ones on the rest of it. Their face is mostly brown with black tips on some feathers and a whitish line behind the eye. Their upperparts are olive brown with a scaly appearance due to narrow black borders on the feathers. Their flight feathers are brown with yellowish edges on the secondaries and

tertials Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail ...

. Their tail is brownish black; the innermost pair of feathers have mostly white inner webs and the outer two pairs have a white area near the tip. Their chin and throat feathers are white with narrow gray-brown tips. The rest of their underparts are whitish with scaly markings similar to those of the upperparts. Adult females are identical but for white spots on their entire crown. Juveniles are darker above than adults and the scaly pattern on their underparts is more diffuse. Subspecies ''P. s. roehli'' often has yellow or orange spots on the forehead instead of red ones, brighter upperparts than the nominate, a brownish yellow tinge to the belly, and narrower markings on the underparts. ''P. s. lovejoyi''s forehead spots are always yellow and its upperparts are grayer than the nominate's. ''P. s. obsoletus'' has a yellow-green tinge to the upperparts and has yellowish white underparts with paler and finer "scale" markings and dark streaks in the feather centers. ''P. s. apurensis'' appears whiter than the nominate on its underparts, and the scaly marks are narrow and indistinct.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of scaled piculet are found thus: *''P. s. squamulatus'', northeastern and central Colombia *''P. s. roehli'', northern Colombia and northern Venezuela *''P. s. obsoletus'', northeastern Venezuela *''P. s. lovejoyi'', extreme northwestern Venezuela *''P. s. apurensis'', north-central Venezuela The scaled piculet inhabits a variety of semi-open to open landscapes including

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

, the edges of

primary forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

, deciduous woodland, farmland with scattered trees, and pastures. In elevation it ranges up to .

Behavior

Movement

As far as is known, the scaled piculet is a year-round resident throughout its range.

Feeding

The scaled piculet feeds on small insects. It forages on thin branches and twigs in dense vegetation or small trees, usually singly or in pairs.

Breeding

The scaled piculet's breeding season is not well defined, but appears to include October to January in Colombia and April to June (and perhaps to September) in Venezuela. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Vocalization

The scaled piculet makes a "high-pitched squeaky 'chi-chi-ch’e’e’chi', becoming trill-like at heend."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the scaled piculet as being of Least Concern. It has a large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is " ssibly not uncommon, and may perhaps be overlooked owing to inconspicuous behaviour." It occurs in at least two protected areas in Venezuela.