The black-dotted piculet (Picumnus nigropunctatus ), also known as the black-spotted piculet, is a Venezuelan endemic species of bird in the Picidae, or woodpecker family. Its taxonomic status is controversial.
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Altricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
Flocking birds are those that tend to gather to forage or travel collectively. Avian flocks are typically associated with migration. Flocking also ...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe 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.
The 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.
This species is locally common in areas with bushes or trees (possibly including mangroves), near water or waterlogged, in the Venezuelan coastal lowlands (below 100m) from southern Delta Amacuro to southeastern Sucre.
Birds of this species forage in pairs, often widely separated, or alone. They occasionally join mixed-species flocks. They often "hitch sideways along branches," and they peck or drill like woodpeckers in rotting wood and at broken ends of branches.
