The black-dotted piculet (Picumnus squamulatus nigropunctatus), also known as the black-spotted piculet, is a subspecies of bird in subfamily Picumninae of the woodpecker family Picidae. It is endemic to Venezuela.[2]
| Black-dotted piculet | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Piciformes |
| Family: | Picidae |
| Genus: | Picumnus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | P. s. nigropunctatus
|
| Trinomial name | |
| Picumnus squamulatus nigropunctatus | |
Taxonomy and systematics
editThe taxonomy of the black-dotted piculet is unsettled. It has variously been treated as conspecific with the white-bellied piculet (P. spilogaster) and with the golden-spangled piculet (P. exilis). It has also been treated as a junior synonym of P. salvinii which itself has been subsumed into the golden-spangled piculet, and as a synonym of one subspecies of scaled piculet (P. squamulatus obsoletus).[3][4][5][6]
BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World treat this taxon as a species.[2][7] The International Ornithological Committee (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy treats it as the scaled piculet subspecies P. squamulatus obsoletus.[8] The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society does not recognize it as a species.[5]
Description
editThe black-dotted piculet resembles other members of the genus Picumnus. 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, 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.[9]
Distribution and habitat
editThe black-dotted piculet is locally common in areas with bushes or trees (possibly including mangroves), near water or waterlogged, in the Venezuelan coastal lowlands between southeastern Sucre and southern Delta Amacuro. In elevation it occurs almost entirely below 100 m (300 ft)[8][9]
Behavior
editFeeding
editThe black-dotted piculet forages in pairs, often widely separated, or alone. They occasionally join mixed-species foraging flocks. They often "hitch sideways along branches," and they peck or drill in rotting wood and at broken ends of branches.[9]
Vocalization
editThe black-dotted piculet's song 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.[9]
Status
editThe IUCN has assessed the black-dotted piculet as being of Least Concern, though it has a limited range, and its population size is unknown and believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b BirdLife International (2016). "Black-spotted Piculet Picumnus nigropunctgatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T61488027A95169706. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T61488027A95169706.en. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
- ^ a b Gill, F.; Donsker, D.; Rasmussen, P., eds. (August 2022). "Woodpeckers". IOC World Bird List. v 12.2. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
- ^ Peterson, Alan P. (January 18, 2004). "Picumnus nigropunctatus Systematics". zoonomen.net. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
Since this one bird has been variously considered to be synonomous [sic] with four entirely different taxa, I arbitrarily choose to leave it for the present as a full species.
- ^ HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world (Taxonomic notes). Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022
- ^ a b 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
- ^ Winkler, H. and D. A. Christie (2020). Golden-spangled Piculet (Picumnus exilis), 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.gospic1.01 retrieved January 10, 2023
- ^ HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip retrieved December 13, 2022
- ^ a b Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022
- ^ a b c d Hilty, Steven L. (2003), Birds of Venezuela, Princeton University Press, pp. 464–465, ISBN 0-691-09250-8