Bar-breasted piculet facts for kids

The bar-breasted piculet (Picumnus aurifrons) is a tiny bird that belongs to the woodpecker family, Picidae. It's found in parts of South America, including Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. This little bird is known for its unique markings, especially the bars on its chest.

Quick facts for kids Bar-breasted piculet
A male bar-breasted piculet in Careiro da Várzea, Amazonas state, Brazil
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Picumnus
Species:	aurifrons

About This Bird

The bar-breasted piculet is part of the woodpecker family, but it's much smaller than most woodpeckers you might know. It's actually the smallest living species in the entire woodpecker family!

What Does It Look Like?

This tiny bird is only about 7.5 centimeters (3 inches) long. That's about the length of your thumb! It weighs between 8 to 10 grams, which is less than a pencil.

Adult male bar-breasted piculets have a black head with yellow streaks on their forehead. They also have white spots on the rest of their head. Their cheeks are gray-brown, and there's a whitish line behind their eye. Their back and upper parts are olive green.

Their tail is black on top. The feathers closest to their body have yellowish-white insides. The outer two pairs of tail feathers have a whitish patch near the end.

The bird's chin and throat are whitish with faint dark bars. Their chest is yellowish-white with brown bars. They have arrowhead-shaped marks on the sides of their chest and upper belly. The lower belly and sides have broad brown streaks.

Female bar-breasted piculets look very similar to males. The main difference is that females have white spots all over their head, not just on the back part. Young birds (juveniles) look like adults, but their head has brown streaks instead of spots. Their belly also has lighter streaks.

There are seven different types, or subspecies, of the bar-breasted piculet. These subspecies have slight differences in their coloring and markings. For example, some might have darker backs, heavier chest bars, or red streaks on their forehead.

Where Does It Live?

The bar-breasted piculet lives in the Amazon Basin in South America. This huge area includes parts of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia.

These birds like to live in humid tropical forests. They are often found at the edges of these forests or in clearings where some trees have been removed. They also live in areas called várzea forests, which are flooded seasonally, and in forests that are growing back after being cut down (secondary forests). You can find them from sea level up to about 1,100 meters (3,600 feet) high.

How Does It Behave?

Staying in One Place

Scientists believe that the bar-breasted piculet stays in the same area all year round. It doesn't migrate to different places.

What Does It Eat?

Not much is known about how these piculets find their food. However, they seem to prefer looking for food high up in the trees. Their diet mostly consists of insects, and they are known to eat insect larvae (young insects).

When Do They Have Babies?

The breeding season for the bar-breasted piculet seems to be from June to November. Beyond that, not much is known about how they raise their young.

What Does It Sound Like?

The call of the bar-breasted piculet has been described as a "tsirrrit-tsit-tsit." It can also make a very high, thin sound like "see-see-suw."

Is It Endangered?

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has listed the bar-breasted piculet as a species of "Least Concern." This means that, for now, it is not considered to be in danger of disappearing.

Even though it lives in a very large area, scientists don't know exactly how many of these birds there are. They believe the population might be getting smaller. However, no immediate threats to the species have been found. It might be uncommon, but it's also possible that it's just hard to spot. This bird lives in at least two protected areas in Peru, which helps keep it safe.